


Guard Dog

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Bodyguard, Card Games, Complete, Dragons, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Ghosts, Holography, M/M, Multi, Mutation, Supernatural Elements, Threesome, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-08
Updated: 2009-10-10
Packaged: 2017-10-21 05:24:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 175,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after Battle City, Mokuba needs a Bodyguard, Jounouchi needs a Job, Yuugi's lonely, and Kaiba needs Friends. Fortunately, the solution for all is the same thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Artwork for the series can be found here:  
> http://pics.livejournal.com/ickaimp/gallery/0000e7bs

(About 3 years post Battle City.)

"Congratulations, Mokuba." Kaiba Seto peered over the rims of his computer glasses to look at his embarrassed younger brother. "You have broken your previous record of scaring away bodyguards within a weeks time."

"S'not my fault." Mokuba mumbled, crossing his arms and not-quite sulking in a way that only someone on the grasp of being a teenager can.

"And what was wrong with this last one?" Seto's tone bordered the line between annoyed and exasperated, but still held an undercurrent of fondness for his mischievous younger sibling.

"He wouldn't let me go anywhere!" Mokuba exclaimed. "He said it was too 'potentially hazardous' for me to go out and play with other gamers, but he wouldn't let anyone come in and game with me, and he didn't know anything about Duel Monsters!" The last was spat out like it was the most inconceivable thing in the world.

"Uh-huh." Seto sat back in his chair. "And what was wrong with the one that -did- play Duel Monsters?"

"He treated me like I was some baby!" The long dark haired boy grumbled. "And he tried to put me in footie pyjamas. FOOTIE PYJAMAS!!!"

"The horror." The sarcasm was so thick you could cut it with a spoon.

"I'm NOT a little kid anymore, 'Niisama." Blue-grey eyes glared at clear blue ones. At fourteen and a half, Mokuba was rapidly catching up to his brother's reputation in the industry. While he may not have shown the same interest in business, he had long surpassed Seto in information gathering and more recently in programming. The two often teamed up on projects for Kaiba Corporation, Seto building the hardware while Mokuba created the software.

"I'm well aware of that." His brother assured him. "But I am also aware of the fact that members of Kaiba Corporation Security would rather swim in a tank of hungry sharks than to guard you for an hour. In fact, I've gotten several offers to personally go and watch as they hang a piece of raw meat around their necks and jump into the water."

Mokuba's face darkened slightly at that. "They're all lame." He muttered, clenching a fist.

"They're also necessary."

"Feh."

Seto sighed, sliding off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. The threat and risk of the younger brother being held hostage in exchange for money or power over Kaiba Corporation had greatly reduced within the past few years. He was practically subdued around his assigned bodyguards in comparison to what he had done to the past several attempted kidnappers.

They'd actually made money twice, the would-be ransomers paying -him- to take the youngest Kaiba back.

But the risk of extortion was still present, no matter what reputation for wildness Mokuba may have had. Hence, the need for bodyguards. Or more specifically, backup.

"You've got that look again." Seto slid the glasses back on his face, peering over the rims again to raise an eyebrow at his brother, who had a glint in his stormy eyes. "What have you got on your mind?"

A small smirk curled up in the corner of the younger boy's mouth. "A proposition for you."

"A proposition?" While it wasn't un-heard of for Mokuba to propose a 'business deal' between the two of them, it wasn't common either. "What sort of proposition?"

Gone was the surliness as Mokuba bounced towards the desk. "It's like this, see? I don't need a full fleet of bodyguards, I'm safe enough at school, at home and here-"

"-Except for the occasional turncoat." Seto pointed out. While his screening procedures were strict and most of his employees were loyal, there were the few rare dissenters. Corporate espionage at its best.

Mokuba nodded, taking it in stride. "And that, I just really need one in transit from home to school, or to here. And when I go out to play-" There was a strong emphasis on his 'going out to play'. There had been a few fights about Mokuba not spending all of his time at Kaiba Corporation, that he should go out and spend time playing with children of his own age as well. After all, Seto's goal in taking over Kaiba Corporation in the first place was to allow Mokuba a normal childhood.

... Or at least as normal of a childhood as one could get while being a Kaiba...

"-So therefore, I'm thinking all I need is one bodyguard, who doesn't look and act like an android and scare everyone away. Someone that has experience with kids and Duel Monsters and will test out our latest improvements on the Duelling Systems and isn't afraid of helicopters and travelling like that one stupid one. And most of all, is willing to have FUN."

Seto leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and intertwining his fingers together. "Sounds like you already have someone in mind."

He got a not-quite innocent smile in response.

"All right." He sighed, knowing this was a losing battle before it even started. "But they have to pass my standards first, otherwise it's back to Kaiba Security Officers for you. And I don't want to hear about any problems."

"Understood, 'Niisama!" Mokuba shot him a cheeky salute, a broad grin on his face. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." He smiled back, the small curving of his lips a fond expression for his younger brother alone. People may have viewed him as a dragon, cold sleek and cunning, but those same people often failed to look past his brother's innocent appearance to realise that Mokuba was a dragon as well. Granted, a dragon kit still, slowly testing and growing into his wings, but already a force to be reckoned with.

Mokuba dashed around the desk to give Seto a quick hug, despite the fact that he often claimed to be too old for such displays of affection. He returned it, messing up the long black strands as he did so. Mokuba shot him a mock-glare for his troubles, smoothing out his hair with affronted dignity before smiling at him in a silent laugh. With one last wave, he trotted out the door, closing it behind him. "Later, 'Niisama!"

"Don't get into too much trouble!" He shouted back, knowing it wouldn't do any good. It was like his brother had changed dramatically and hadn't changed at all in his mind's eye. He was, and probably always would be, the snot-nosed brat he had been when they were younger. And yet at the same time, he was growing up.

He spared a moment to marvel at the changes in both of them since their parents had passed away before reluctantly shaking his head and returning to work.

+++  
+++

"You're joking."

Mokuba crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face. "Nope."

"Hey!" The person underneath Seto's knee wiggled in a futile attempt to break free. "What the hell is goin' on?!"

He ignored the person. "Him?!"

"Yes."

"Get off me!"

"Why?"

Mokuba began to count the points off on his fingers. "He's got fighting skills, we already know we can trust him, he likes us-" Both he and the other man trapped under Seto made a muffled sound of protest in the back of their throats "-and he's proved in the past to be a reliable protector."

"He's brainless."

"It's not nice ta talk about others when they CAN HEAR YOU!" The other man snapped, attempting to hit him. Seto shifted his grip, immobilising the person further.

"He's stubborn and refuses to give up, AND he's the number three duellist in the rankings, right after you and Yuugi." Mokuba crossed his arms. "Plus he's got street smarts, which is something none of the rest of those lame-brains have."

Seto looked around at the fallen still groaning bodyguards around them. Mokuba had a point. A very good one at that.

"What's goin' ON?!" The other boy spat, trying to futilely jerk his arms free.

"He'll need additional training." Seto pointed out, mentally reviewing the fight scene he'd walked into, leading to their current position. At the time he'd thought he had walked into another attempted kidnapping, which he had. But instead of the sweatshirt hooded ruffian attempting to beat his men to kidnap Mokuba, said ruffian had been preventing the kidnapping at the hands of his supposedly trusted 'security guards'. "I took him down easily."

"Fighting multiple people at once is a different skill than fighting one on one." Mokuba countered. "And I never said he was -perfect-, just that I think he's the perfect person for the job."

"Leggo already!"

Seto debated for a moment while the teen beneath him continued to futilely struggle. Personal opinions aside, it most likely was the best solution around. Things certainly couldn't continue as they were.

Personal opinions aside...

"Three months training, I approve afterwards." He said.

Mokuba nodded, accepting his terms. "Takes both of us to fire him." That way neither could accuse the other of getting rid of him in a bout of anger.

"Oi! Don't make me kick your butt!"

"Agreed. But until he's on, you behave for the normal guards."

Grey eyes narrowed at that, but his brother nodded. "Anything else, 'Niisama?"

"Hellooooo-?"

"We can decide later, if he passes."

"He will." Mokuba appeared confidant. Seto nodded curtly and released the lanky limbed man beneath him, rising quickly and stepping out of the way.

Mokuba moved forward, a hand extended to help him up as he smiled. "Sorry about that."

"What the hell is goin' on?!" The other boy growled, brushing himself off.

"Well..." His brother's grin grew wider. "How'd you like to work for me, Jounouchi-kun?" He asked innocently.

The Mutt just stared.

 

+++  
+++

 

When the Jerk-Faced Kaiba had told Jounouchi that he was going to be sent off for three months for training, Jounouchi had expected someplace far away, deep in the mountains, being trained by some prune-faced old geezer and sitting under freezing waterfalls for hours at a time.

He was not expecting to be sent to what amounted to a top secret high-tech airforce base and trained by someone younger than him.

Who could still kick his butt. Without breaking a sweat. While the rest of Sensei's team cheered him on. And then, after having gleefully explained where Jounouchi messed up, they would kick his butt. And occasionally he'd kick theirs. It was painful going, but the gap between their skills and his was slowly shrinking.

Although it was the other lessons that were starting to kind of worry Jounouchi. Okay, so he could kind of maybe possibly in a very remote sort of way picture how learning the tactics of Guerrilla warfare might come in handy, considering the weirdness that they all got up to. And the improvised explosives were just damn cool.

But this latest one...

"It's a gun." Jounouchi stared at the piece of sculpted metal in his hands.

"A Glock 26." Sagara-sensei deadpanned. "Yes."

One of Jounouchi's eyebrows rose. "Kaiba -hates- guns."

"All the more reason for you to learn if he will not pick them to defend himself or his brother." Sagara Sousuke was not much of one for what could be considered 'earth logic'.

Jounouchi thought about it for a minute, then thought about the old favours Kaiba must have had to cash in on from before Kaiba Corporation was a children's toy manufacturer. He then glanced up at the heavy mecha machinery around them that he was pretty sure that he didn't have the clearance to look at, much less touch.

"Am I going to have to learn how to use those too?"

 

+++  
+++

 

The chimes on the front door of the Kame Game shop rang, signalling the arrival of another customer. "Irrasshai!" Yuugi called, not looking up from the poster he was attempting to put on the wall.

Years had come and years had gone, his Other Self had passed on to the other world, friends stayed and left and he had finally accepted the fact that he was never going to be much taller than 'Jiichan.

"Tadaima." A familiar voice called back, causing him to pause.

"I'm home-?" He echoed turning around to see who was at the door, thus causing the poster to fall over, draping across his head and temporarily obscuring his vision. He grappled with it, attempting to pull it off his head, muttering obscenities to the people who created such paper menaces.

The obstacle was removed by a familiar and long missed grinning face. "Yo!"

"Jounouchi-kun!!!" He smiled back in delight. Jounouchi was back! Poster forgotten, he flung his arms around his friend's waist holding on to him tightly. It had been ages since he'd seen his friend!

"Whoa, Yuugi, gimme a second here." His taller friend laughed, reaching up and fastening the thrice-cursed poster to the wall, slightly hampered by the fact that Yuugi refused to let go. Jounouchi laughed, then wrapped one arm around him and rubbed the knuckles of his other hand into Yuugi's spiking locks as they play-wrestled like they were still in High School.

"You've gotten stronger." Yuugi noted from the headlock, using a free hand to poke at a restraining arm. "And taller! Where have you been? I've missed you!"

"Yeah, well..." The tall blond dropped him, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Sorry 'bout that. Ya did get my postcards right?"

Yuugi crossed his arms, raising an impatient eyebrow. "Yes, I got them." About one a week on average, sometimes two. It had been about the only thing that had kept him from tracking down Jounouchi in a completely panicked state. "'I'm alive, see you soon' doesn't quite explain where you've been for three months. I was starting to wonder if you had gotten eaten."

"Yeah... heh heh, not quite..." Jounouchi shrugged. Unfortunately, with their past with the strange and unusual, the 'eaten' comment was meant more literally than metaphorically. "I was trainin' for a new job. It came up kinda suddenly, so I didn't have time to tell ya before I left."

"Jounouchi-kun." An eyebrow was raised, meaning that Yuugi meant business.

Jounouchi sighed, shoulders slumping as he gave up the veneer of secrecy. "I'm workin' over at Kaiba Corporation." He muttered.

"Kaiba-kun?!" Yuugi's eyes widened. Jounouchi -hated- the eldest Kaiba with a passion. Well, perhaps it had muted slightly with time, but there was still a spark of animosity between the two. Yuugi never quite understood the purpose of it, or why both of them went out of each other's way to barb the other, but he still considered Kaiba Seto among his friends.

Even if no one else thought that way.

"Is everything all right?" He inquired. If Jounouchi was working for Kaiba, then it was probably very serious indeed.

"It's not what ya think!" The blond hastened to assure his friend. "I'm workin' for Mokuba, not Kaiba. Well, Mokuba's a Kaiba too, but Kaiba... eh, you know what I mean. I'm his bodyguard. Mokuba's. That's where I've been, training. Not here, I mean, I was somewhere else, training. Cause I'm a good fighter, but I still can't kick Kaiba's butt, so I was off learnin' how to wipe the floor with him. Or try to anyway... ...I'm not explainin' this too well, am I?" He ended it with a slight wince.

Yuugi frowned. "Jounouchi-kun."

"Yeah?"

"Are you doing this of your own free will or because you had no other choice?"

Jounouchi chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Little bit of column A, Little bit of column B..."

"Jounouchi-kun..."

The blond chuckled, taking a step back and holding his hands up in supplication. "It's like this, see? You and Honda and Bakura and everyone else is smart, did well in school, right?"

Yuugi winced. Actually, his grades had been barely passing due to the fact that he spent so much time way from school because of Duelling, but he wasn't about to point that out at this exact moment...

"So when we got outta school, you all had some place ta go. Anzu to New York, Otogi and you ta yer game shops, Bakura ta his father's museum, Honda with his automobile, but me? I'm not so good with school. Part time jobs are great and all, but I only got two things I'm good at. Fightin' and Duellin'. And neither one are exactly somethin' I can get a steady paycheque with. And this..." Jounouchi grinned, a light turning on in his eyes. "This is something I'm -good- at."

"Duelling and fighting?" Yuugi echoed, just a bit of a smile escaping.

"EXACTLY." The light turned into a full-blown megawatt lighthouse, the grin stretching from ear to ear. "Not to mention it gives me a place to live AND food and I get to check out the latest duellin' stuff before it goes on the market! And Mokuba's a good kid, I don't mind hangin' out with him."

"But..."

The grin faded. "But I gotta deal with Kaiba. My room's across the hall from Mokuba's, Mokuba's is just down the hall from Kaiba's. Just in case of emergencies. Those two have a separation complex or somethin'. Not that I blame them or anythin'..."

Both Kaiba brothers had been through a lot. Yuugi still didn't know all the history behind them, but he knew enough to understand their reasoning. Yuugi nodded. "So you're not being coerced or forced into this?" He asked carefully.

"None what so ever." Jounouchi met his gaze levelly. "Yuugi, I WANT ta do this. Excited about it, actually."

"Obviously." He couldn't help but to tease. It earned him another headlock, his hair being messed up despite his laughing protests. It was good to have Jounouchi back, where he knew where he was. He had really been concerned when no one else seemed to know where he had disappeared to.

"So, what have you been up to, Yuugi?" Jounouchi grinned, one arm still wrapped companionably around his shoulders. "How's everyone doing?"

"Well... if you have the time, Mister Jounouchi 'I'm Employed and Disappearing for Months at a Time' Katsuya-kun..." There. He'd stop teasing him about it there, but it had more than stung that Jounouchi had left without a word.

Jounouchi chuckled nervously again. "Sorry about that, Yuugi... Tell ya what, though. I don't have to report in to work until tomorrow, so you have all night to fill me in, okay?"

"And for you to do the same." He agreed, easily escorting his friend into the back rooms. He had some tea brewing there earlier, and he was sure he had enough snacks to last them a few hours at least...

Wait, this was Jounouchi... Who was he kidding? They'd be out of food in an hour. He grinned, causing the blond to look at him with a bit of trepidation.

Yuugi ignored it. After all, snacks weren't as important as having his friend back.

+++  
+++

School, quite frankly, sucked. It sucked big black hairy donkey balls.

And it wasn't even lunch period yet.

Mokuba sighed and pondered the odds of skipping a grade already. Okay, so in a few months he'd be starting High School, but it'd be with most of the same stupid people studying the same stupid things and everyone thinking that 'oh my gosh! like, they were all mature now and stuff' when they -weren't- and when was the last time any of them had to save the world or anything?

Okay, so maybe not -saved- the world single-handedly, but maybe helped a bit and witnessed the non-destruction of the world? SEVERAL times?

Nyah. So there.

Mokuba glanced around making sure that no one was watching him during the break between subjects, grabbed his bag and slipped out of the door into the hallway. There were enough people wandering around that it didn't look odd for him to be wandering around.

From there, it was a piece of cake to slip out of the school building and towards the back of the property, where an old tree had some branches that went over the wall. The Kaiba Corporation security guards never caught on to this little escape route, they always seemed to expect him to exit from the front when slipping out. Hah. As -if-.

He slung his bag over one shoulder and gave himself a small running start before jumping up to grab the lowest branch. From there, it was just a matter of swinging his legs over it and clambering up without catching his hair on anything. That was the tricky part. Waist-length hair seemed to get -everywhere-. With a triumphant grin, he pulled himself onto the branch, tucking his feet up so the branches hid him completely.

It wasn't like he even had a set destination in mind of where to go. None of the so-called duellists in school would play him, because he was Kaiba Seto's Little Brother, and therefore must be cheating or have rigged his deck. No one would play CapMon with him for the same reason. And because he was the Champion, the cowards. He could go to the arcades, but a lot of the kids who snuck out of school to go hide there at this time of day knew him back from his 'The Ratfink Who Would Be King' stage and would try to finagle money from him. His fault for thinking that he could buy friends when he was younger.

So it looked like the library for him. Sure, it was slower trying to find stuff in books than running a word search on a computer, but there was something a bit more satisfying about it as well. Plus it was quiet and he could do his own reading that he didn't want 'Niisama to fret over and just think without interruptions. No one ever looked for him there.

Plan firmly in mind, he reached for the next branch and encountered something hard but slightly giving and covered in denim instead. Mokuba startled, glancing up and and discovered that lounging on what was usually his next handhold was his bodyguard.

"Yo." Jounouchi said with a sleepy wave.

"J-Jounouchi?!" Mokuba stammered, removing his hand from Jounouchi's thigh. "What are you doing here?!"

His blond bodyguard gave him a lazy smile that held just a touch of dark humour behind it. "I think the question is, what are -you- doing here? Don't you have class in... about a minute?"

"I... I was..." Crap. He didn't have an excuse for this. Didn't think he'd need one.

"Ditchin' class?" Jounouchi drawled, casually all-knowing. "Any particular reason?"

Mokuba glared. Dammit. He'd gotten Jounouchi as a bodyguard so he could -have- fun, not prevent his fun. "... It's boring."

Jounouchi mused that over. "At least you're honest." He finally shrugged.

"So you'll let me ditch?" Mokuba pressed.

"No."

Bastard.

"But..." Jounouchi smirked at him. "I can make a deal with you, if you want."

"... Oh?" Mokuba raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"

Jounouchi twisted on the tree-branch to face him properly. "You give me your word you won't randomly ditch, and in exchange, if you -have- a good reason to ditch school, call me up and if it's important enough, we'll ditch together, okay?"

The blond really did take this body-guarding job too seriously. He was only supposed to watch Mokuba when he wasn't in school.

... oh. Right. Well, ditching was out of school, wasn't it?

"But no more than once every couple of weeks. You still need to keep your grades up and I know that you have meetings and stuff you have to go to instead of school anyway." Jounouchi chastised.

"And if I think this plan of yours sucks?" Mokuba pressed.

He got a wide grin in return. "You're forgetting what I did before I met Honda and Yuugi." Jounouchi tsk'ed playfully at him. "I was a good for nothing street punk, and nearly didn't pass Middle School because I ditched so often. And guess which school I ditched from?"

Domino Middle School. Of course. Crap.

"You try ditching without me and I'll let the school know all the ways to sneak out of the school." Jounouchi settled back down against the tree trunk with a smug lazy air. "And believe me, I know a lot more of them then you do. And if I catch you ditching, which I will, I'll throw you back in and let you explain it to your brother."

Double crap. And he would too, literally.

"I hate you." Mokuba finally decided. "Deal." He held his hand out. At least this way he could still get out of school occasionally. Although he'd have to wait and see if Jounouchi actually upheld his end of the bargain with the whole 'ditching with permission' thing.

Jounouchi took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Good. Now go on, you've only got a little bit before the bell rings."

Mokuba muttered several uncomplimentary things under his breath as he scampered out of the tree and headed back to class at a brisk pace. He was just a few seconds tardy for the second bell, arriving after the teacher had gotten there.

"Kaiba Mokuba-kun." The teacher snapped at him as he tried to slink back to his desk. "What excuse do you have for being tardy?"

"Sorry, Ma'am." Mokuba apologised with a slight bow, realising that unlike trying to ditch, he had the perfect reason for being tardy to class. "-I was in the middle of business negotiations."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Hey, Ryuu-san." Jounouchi leaned on the large fortress-like desk that housed Kaiba's secretary. He'd been afraid when he'd started the job that she'd be a total Ice Queen, or a Bitch or some sort of android to be able to deal with Kaiba all the time, but she actually seemed okay.

A bit like a samurai's wife really, all polite and quiet dignity but ready to kill at a moment's notice should the situation call for it. And she didn't mind talking to Jounouchi if she wasn't busy. Or sometimes even if she was busy, Ryuu-san was good at multi-tasking, like she was doing currently. "I'm bored."

"It's your time off." She said, punching holes in some papers and putting them together in a binder. "Why don't you enjoy it?"

Jounouchi shrugged. He was still getting used to the Kaiba brothers and Kaiba Corporation. It still felt kind of weird to be here. At least Kaiba didn't seem interested in imposing any sort of dress code on him, so after trying to wear a business suit and tie, he'd given up, ditched the noose and gone back to his jeans. He still wore the business coat occasionally, but more often than not, he just wore the business shirt over a tee-shirt and called it decent.

Ryuu-san smirked at him, the professional mask bending enough to make her look vaguely matronly. "You could always get me a cup of coffee." She offered.

"Okay." Jounouchi pushed off the desk. "Where is it?"

She blinked at him, looking slightly startled and suspicious. Guys usually didn't get girls coffee in the business world, usually getting beverages or snacks was the 'woman's job'. He shrugged back. "I did a lotta part time jobs from Middle School on. M'used to doing stuff and being useful, not just standing around looking pretty. How do ya like your coffee?"

"Black, four sugars." Ryuu-san said slowly, motioning towards the elevators. "Two floors down. Or there's the cafeteria on the sixth floor. Not that Kaiba-sama ever uses it." The last was said in a disapproving tone, like Kaiba was a misbehaving adolescent.

Jounouchi snickered. "He still skippin' lunches? Used to do that all the time in High School too. Always off by himself, playing with paperwork or fiddlin' with something on the laptop." He was half-expecting to discover one of these days that Kaiba actually slept upside down, hanging from the big blue canopy on his bed. But Jounouchi still wasn't entirely convinced Kaiba was completely human.

Ryuu-san gave a vaguely unlady-like snort at that, clearly communicating her displeasure at her boss' apparent disregard towards his own well-being.

Jounouchi chuckled in return and gave her a small wave. "Coffee, black, four sugars." He repeated, to make sure he'd gotten it right, just in case. "I'll be right back."

"See you then." Ryuu-san nodded with a faint quirk to her lips, like she'd believe it when she saw it. Jounouchi smirked back. Probably had been listening to stories about him from her boss. He hit the button for the elevator, which automatically opened for him. Lucky! Usually it took forever to wait for the elevator to make it to the top floor.

He went down two floors, past the all important mucky-mucks, to one of the offices, following his nose to the delicious scent of coffee.

And promptly ran into someone coming around the corner. "Kyaa!"

"Sorry!" He apologised, reaching out and steadying a blond girl carrying a pot of hot water. "Sorry!"

"I'm so terribly sorry! This is my fault!" The nervous girl stammered, attempting to bow without sploshing the water and not quite succeeding at either.

"No, no! It's my fault." Jounouchi laughed, embarrassed. "I'm afraid I'm still learning my way around here."

"Oh! Me too!" The blond girl straightened and gave him a brilliant ditzy smile. "I'm Mihoshi. Coffee Lady."

"Jounouchi. Bodyguard." Jounouchi grinned back. Just the person he was looking for. "And actually, I'm currently on a quest for a coffee with four sugars."

"Well, brave sir bodyguard, I can help you with one part." Mihoshi held up the half-full pot of hot water. "But I'm afraid I'm out of sugar. I need to go down to the cafeteria to pick more up."

Cafeteria was on the sixth floor, which he'd yet to go to. "I can do that." He offered.

"Oh, no! I couldn't possibly ask you to-"

He cut her off. "Hey, us newbies have to stick together, right?" He waved and headed back to the elevators. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Um... okay."

'Brave Sir Bodyguard', he chuckled to himself as he pressed the button for the elevator. Luckily it was still waiting for him and he stepped inside, the doors closing after him as he hit the button for the sixth floor. It really was starting to resemble a role playing game. To complete the quest for a cup of coffee, first he must complete the side quest, to get sugar for the coffee.

Then the doors opened to the sixth floor and the scent of cooking food hit his nose, his stomach growling. Hmm... perhaps he could pick up lunch while he was down here.

Or, he mused with a slightly evil grin as he perused the food selection, he should add an additional side quest to slay the dragon...

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. "What is this?" He inquired, not entirely certain that the object did not contain a live rodent, considering it's source.

"I would think..." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "-that you would be able to recognise a turkey sandwich."

"I know what it is." Seto frowned back. It was from the downstairs cafeteria, he knew their selection of food quite well. "What is it -doing- here?"

Jounouchi obviously resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's for you." He explained not quite so patiently. "To eat. Y'know? Food?"

Seto's frowned deepened. "You were hired to guard Mokuba, not act as my nanny." He said dismissively, turning to go back to work. Surely the mutt could find some other productive way to entertain himself. Away from Seto.

"Anything that affects you affects Mokuba." The blonde retorted stubbornly. "If -you- pass out from low blood sugar, -I'm- gonna hafta deal with a panicked little brother. Eat."

Seto just raised a disdainful eyebrow at him before resolutely ignored him and resumed typing on the keyboard. No one told him what to do. Espeically not some mediocre duellist with barely acceptable fighting skills.

"Fine." Jounouchi growled. "I'm going to pick Mokuba up from school. We should be back in half an hour. If the sandwich isn't eaten by then, I'm shoving it down your throat."

With that, he turned and stalked off. Seto snickered, ignoring the blond's moronic display of temper. Like that was going to happen.

Half an hour later, a suspicious Jounouchi returned. The sandwich remained in its original position, untouched.

Jounouchi did exactly what he said he was going to do.

Mokuba helped.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi hated mornings. It was the worst part of the day.

Here he was, working a stable, steady job, which is more than anyone thought he could ever do, and doing a fairly good job at it too, if he did say so himself. But was he allowed to lie around in the morning, relax and maybe take in a cup of coffee? No.

Mornings were what he was beginning to refer to as 'His Blue Period'. As in 'Black and Blue'.

Because every morning instead of waking up, stumbling around to get dressed and eat breakfast, he was woken up by that obnoxious jerk Kaiba and dragged off outside to one of the grassy gardens for quote 'practice' unquote.

Or, as Kaiba would put it, in 'dog terms': Being tossed around the room by one stuffed shirt billionaire named Kaiba Seto under the guise of improving his fighting skills. Privately, Jounouchi thought it was Kaiba Stress Relief.

But he couldn't deny that his fighting was improving between the three months under Sensei and these morning 'Sparring Sessions'.

And right about now, from his position eating grass, neither could Kaiba.

Funnily enough, the first thought that went through his head was not victory or triumph at his finally pinning Kaiba, but a faint bit of horror that he was -really- going to pay for this later.

In the background, he could hear some of the gardeners, who were used to watching him get tossed into their nicely manicured lawn on a daily basis, making a faint buzzing sound as they talked in the background. A few of them had joked with him at various times about placing bets on who was going to win. He'd teased back that it was rigged, no one was going to bet against the boss, to which they had readily agreed. Well, now it seemed like at least some were going to bet against the boss from now on.

Although, new bets were probably going to be placed on his life span after this...

He released Kaiba and quickly backed up, giving the volatile businessman plenty of room to get up in. Which Kaiba did quickly, the gleam in his eyes reminding Jounouchi of the Blue Eyes White Dragon just before a big attack.

Then Kaiba did something even scarier than facing down the wrath of one of his dragons.

He smiled.

A smug, self-satisfied twitch of the lips that was more terrifying than any loud shouts and death threats could have been.

"Good job." Kaiba commented mildly before straightening his clothing in that prim way of his and walking off towards the house.

Jounouchi stared after him. Good job? Good JOB?! Well, yeah, he supposed that's what Kaiba was training him for, to be able to fight someone and win, but still... Good job?

All things considered he would have preferred a pat on the head and some cryptic comment about him being a well-trained mutt.

Less disturbing.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto smirked as the blond looked over the newspaper headlines with a comically surprised look. "I don't believe it." The bodyguard muttered, surprise fading into disturbed as he sat back in his seat in the limo, next to Mokuba.

"Believe it." Seto rumbled, shaking the newspaper slightly so it stayed upright. After all, the blond had been there for the majority of the turn of events.

Last week, Seto had been walking through Kaiba Land with Mokuba and the Mutt when he'd noticed a map of the amusement park on the ground. So he'd picked it up and placed it in the paper rubbish bin, to be recycled later.

This rather mundane act had managed to catch a minor amount of media attention, sending rumours fast and furious about Kaiba Land custodial department being under scrutiny and people being fired. Which, of course, was a load of bull.

Finally, a clever member of the media had asked him for a statement. He'd responded with a line about if he didn't take care of his own property, how was he supposed to take care of anything else?

Considering that he practically owned Domino City and several large chunks of land across the globe for his amusement parks, this was not an idle comment. The citizens of Domino City had liked this comment, as it apparently made him sound like a very responsible person. His popularity, and thus Kaiba Corporation's, had risen considerably.

Which in turn, meant that Kaiba Corporation stocks had risen considerably in the past several days.

The blond looked up at Seto, still looking disturbed. "You pick up ONE piece of paper, and earn several billion yen?!"

"Yes." Seto smirked, rustling the newspapers again. And earned him a name as someone who cared about the environment, to boot.

Mokuba patted the blond on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Game of Business." Mokuba said, not entirely unsympathetically, but with a definite undercurrent of amusement. Mokuba had been the one to suggest this little scenario.

The gob-smacked look on the blond's face was almost as sweet as the money he had just earned for doing practically nothing.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Jounouchi..." Small hands shook his shoulder "Jounouchi!! Wake up! Please wake up!"

" Mmmplgh." He rolled over, waving a lazy arm in the direction of the voice. "G'way."

"Jounouchi, PLEASE!" Finally, the insistent voice was enough to snap him out of his slumber. Sheesh, it felt like he had just gotten to bed...

"Mokuba?" He grumbled, opening his eyes and sitting up, grateful he'd put on pyjama bottoms tonight. Although if late night visitors were going to become the norm, he might want to debate about sleeping in a shirt as well, like Mokuba was wearing. Although he'd really prefer to skip the whole pyjama thing altogether. The youngest Kaiba was staring at him, dark hair and eyes wild and chaotic. "Wassup?"

"It's..." The younger boy hesitated, as if uncertain what to do now that he had his attention. "It's 'Niisama. He won't wake up."

"It's the middle of the night, Mokuba." Jounouchi pointed out logically. He'd hope that Kaiba was asleep. Like he'd hope to be.

"No, you don't understand!" Mokuba was practically vibrating with distress. "'Niisama... 'Niisama has nightmares. Bad ones. Really bad ones, from like, before. They got REALLY bad after the Other Yuugi made him experience death and even worse after he made 'Niisama put his heart back together, but they'd been getting better. He used to wake me screaming..."

"Okay," He wouldn't admit it, but the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand upright just from the sheer amount of terror and panic the teen put into the descriptions of the nightmares. He'd -been- there when Yuugi had broken the elder Kaiba's heart to fix it. And after some of the situations and duels they'd been in, even he'd had some real doozies of his own when it came to nightmares. "Okay. Whaddya want me ta do?"

"Come on." Mokuba grabbed his hand, like he was much younger than his fourteen years and dragged him out of the bed and down the hall to Kaiba's bedroom. Jounouchi followed with some trepidation. He was getting used to Ol' Blue Eyes, as he lived and learned about him, but that didn't necessarily mean he was -fond- of Kaiba Seto.

"In here." Mokuba tugged him towards the giant four poster bed that was the central feature of the master suite. "He usually calms down once he knows I'm here, but it doesn't seem to be working. You sleep on his other side."

Eeeeeeh? Sleep? Next to Kaiba? What the hell?

Heedless to his reluctance, Mokuba climbed into the big bed next to his brother, careful not to pin any limbs or actually restrain his brother. Just be near enough for his presence to be noticeable. Jounouchi took a few steps closer, keeping an eye on Kaiba, just in case. The brunette was pale against his sheets, beads of sweat beading against his forehead, making Kaiba look ill instead of caught in the throws of a nightmare. Even if he was tenser than a twig ready to snap.

However, the messed up state of the bed spoke otherwise. A keening noise escaped from Kaiba's clenched jaws, causing Jounouchi to jump.

"Jounouchi." Mokuba looked up at him. He sighed. Damn it all. He slowly climbed onto the bed, careful of where he put his hands and feet as Mokuba began to talk, explaining that he was here, Gozaburou was dead, Jounouchi was here as well, 'Niisama was safe now, he could sleep easier. After a while it seemed to work, the stiff-corpse like posture of Kaiba melting into a more natural approximation to sleep, some of the colour returning to his face. Mokuba's voice trailed off into a slow whisper as he fell asleep as well, his body curling up against his brother.

He snorted softly to himself. Both Kaiba looked more innocent like this, younger. Heck, even Kaiba looked more like his actual age instead of an old man in a young body.

He yawned, stretching out to sleep. He'd catch a few zzz's here, then take Mokuba back in a few hours, to make sure they wouldn't have a repeat of this tonight.

In the meantime, he'd guard their slumber.

It was in his job description after all.

... wasn't it?

 

+++  
+++

 

His office door opened, then shut quickly, footsteps approaching the desk, then stopping in front of him. Seto snarled silently. He'd given his secretary explicit orders not to allow anyone in here, upon pain of decapitation. Or some other severe body-reducing event.

However, when he glanced up to rip who ever had interrupted his work a new one, the words stopped dead in his throat.

Ass.

An ass so tight you could bounce coins off of it, clad in a pair jeans so worn that denim had turned into a soft flexible material that covered those curves in an all-revealing loving grasp.

Seto found himself drooling like Pavlov's Dog.

Then that ass turned around, to reveal an equally as impressive crotch in the front, with a not insignificant bulge pressing against the zipper. The jeans rode low, flashes of smooth belly teasing over the top of an equally worn leather belt.

Oh... my...

"Dammit, Mokuba..." The muttered voice startled him out of his revere as he jerked his head up out of crotch level to look up into the face of one slightly annoyed looking Guard Dog. Jounouchi turned in a circle again, arms reaching behind him to mess with the belt, something furry obscuring his view of that ass. "-How the hell am I supposed to attach this freakin' tail?!"

Belatedly, Seto noticed that the mutt was also wearing a pair of dog-ears, similar to the golden-retriever blond hair on the crown of his head. And a leather vest. Where the hell had those come from?! More importantly, why was the mutt actually wearing them?

And was that a dog collar wrapped around the mutt's neck?

He pointedly cleared his throat, stopping the mutt from completing yet another circle in front of him. While it was highly amusing and made for wonderful entertainment, it was also very distracting.

"Oh. Kaiba." Jounouchi looked at him from under that mop of golden hair, looking more puppy-like than normal. "Just wanted to let you know Mokuba and I are on our way out. We should be back around midnight."

"Dressed like that?" He inquired loftily, allowing himself to lean back in the chair and take in the entire ensemble. Rips and tears in the jeans he hadn't noticed before gave him glimpses of solid muscles under the soft material and were probably the only thing that were allowing the mutt to move in pants that tight.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "It's a -costume- party to celebrate the beginning of the school year, it bein' his first year of High School and all. I'm a werewolf, Mokuba's a vampire-? Your brother's only told you what? A dozen times every day for the past week?"

Of course. How ridiculous of him. He'd finally given permission for his brother to go, only if the guard dog went along with to watch over things.

... in that outfit, there'd be no problems at the party because everyone would be too busy watching HIM.

"Right." Seto nodded, long used to not showing what he was thinking on his face. Not that he worried about the puppy actually reading his facial expressions. He was well aware of exactly what the mutt thought of him.

He did -not- have something stuck up his ass.

Now, Jounouchi's ass...

"Have a good time." He dismissed the guard dog and bent his head back to his task, pretending to be absorbed in his work. "And tell Mokuba I said eleven-thirty, no later."

"Yeah, yeah." The mutt grumbled, heading back to the main doors, muttering to himself about being polite and ungrateful heartless brainless dickless bastards.

Seto didn't feel terribly bad about it. After all, the original agreement had been for them to be home by eleven. But he was used to playing these games with Mokuba. However, the mutt in the middle was a new twist to their minor power plays.

But the view as the mutt left was very nice... The jeans clung to those curves very well. Just how long had the mutt had those pants?

. . . .

It was very nice the mutt was leaving, yes, that was it. No thoughts about tight denim or leather or the like in his head. Business.

Besides. It wasn't like he found the annoying blond -attractive- or anything.

His secretary was watching the mutt leave as well, a glazed expression falling across her face as the blond gave a friendly wave good-bye. He saw her then proceed to lean off the side of her desk, to further watch the mutt's exit before his doors shut, blocking his view of them both.

He hit the intercom button. "Do you require a bucket?" He inquired icily.

"Bucket?" She stammered.

"For the drool?"

"N-no."

"Good. Keep it that way." With an angry jab, he turned off the intercom.

Damn fools, staring at HIS mutt.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Oi, Mokuba..." Jounouchi didn't bother looking away from the large television screen as he trounced the younger Kaiba in a racing video game. "How come your brother wears all those buckles and stuff? He tryin' ta outdo Yuugi in the bondage statement department or something?"

The dark haired boy snorted, not quite breaking out into full laughter. "Didn't you know? 'Niisama's got this anti-gravity problem, from a lab accident. If he doesn't strap his clothing to him, it'll all go flying off."

"Yer kidding." The blond tore his gaze from the screen to stare at the wild haired teen. "Tell me yer kiddin'."

"Yup!" Mokuba laughed, using the distraction to pull his racer ahead of Jounouchi's. Jounouchi muffled a curse and turned his attention back to the game.

"Brat."

Mokuba snickered in return, even as Jounouchi regained his number one spot on the track. "Nah. Honestly, it's the intimidation factor. Can you see anyone else wearing that?"

Yuugi in Kaiba's clothing... "No." Jounouchi cut off that train of thought, remembering that werewolf costume Mokuba had talked him into for the costume party. Mokuba had ended up playing -his- bodyguard, not the other way around. It seemed like everyone and their mother had been trying to pet him. Too weird. "Wait... So you're the one responsible for those outfits? I would have thought you'd have everyone running around in stripes."

"What's wrong with stripes?!" Mokuba demanded, making an effort to pull ahead. Jounouchi blocked him with a mad cackle. "Better than that purple trench coat of his. -I- certainly never would have chosen that. Can we say 'grape'?"

"Yeah, that was a little fruity, wasn't it?" Jounouchi smirked. Mokuba ran his car into Jounouchi's in retaliation. Jounouchi grinned. "So is he colour blind? Y'know, why you put him in black and white so much."

"That's cause the contrast is dramatic." Mokuba explained. "And it freaks the hell out of the Board Members. He's been running the company for how many years now and they still can't get him regularly into a suit and tie?" The smaller teen chuckled with malicious amusement. There was no love lost between the Kaiba Brothers and the Kaiba Corporation Board Members.

"Hafta agree on the dramatic part." He agreed. The strange flared outfits certainly leant to the frightening air that caused many of the weaker duellists to run screaming at just their first sight of Kaiba. He grinned. "-Or it could be that he simply doesn't like ties."

Mokuba snorted, drawing attention to their own causal clothing --neither of them would ever voluntarily be caught dead wearing anything resembling a tie.

"Point." Jounouchi conceded.

"You know..." Mokuba said thoughtfully "We're going to have to go shopping at some point. If I gotta go to some fancy shindig, that means you've gotta go too and I know for a fact you don't have anything formal enough to wear in your closet."

The word was little more than a squeak out of his throat. "Shopping?"

"Yup." He didn't have to look to see Mokuba's grin turn fierce, predator like. He'd seen it well enough when the younger boy had talked him into wearing his oldest, worn pair of jeans for the werewolf costume. The younger Kaiba already had something planned in that devious little brain of his, something that did NOT bode well for what remained of Jounouchi's sanity. "It'll be -fun-."

Mokuba's car pulled ahead of his, beating his to the finish line.

"...Shit."

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto looked down at the object that had been placed next to him as if it were a live rodent. However, this time instead of wasting time asking about what was obviously a tuna sandwich, he glanced up at the bearer of food. The mutt had a dark scowl on his face, jaw set determinedly.

Mindful of what had happened the last time food had been brought to him, he glanced away, resuming typing. "I do not require a nursemaid."

"Yeah, well maybe if you didn't spend all yer time nursemaidin' everyone else, ya wouldn't need someone to act as one." The blond was obstinate.

"Is that a threat?"

Jounouchi leaned forward and -grinned-. "Just remindin' ya of what happened last time. I'll see ya in half an hour. With Mokuba."

With that, the mutt sauntered out.

Seto snorted in disdain as the doors shut, pointedly not watching the other man's exit.

However, once he was certain that he was in no danger of being observed, he began to eat. But only half the sandwich.

After all, no one ordered a Kaiba around. No one.

The next evening, upon retiring to his rooms, he found an outfit laying out on the bed. It was remarkably similar to his clothing from Battle City. A black turtleneck, buckles, belts and a white over garment with studs around the flared shoulders.

That was where the similarities ended.

Because despite the similarities, it was obviously a maid's uniform, the white garment in question a rather dangerous looking apron over what would clearly be a tight black dress.

The Mutt was extremely unsubtle when it came to getting his point across. 'Nursemaid' indeed.

... Mokuba probably helped, the brat.

 

+++  
+++

 

"C'mon, Mokuba. Help me out here." Jounouchi muttered as he hefted the fourteen-soon-to-be-fifteen year-old out of his brother's bed. Kaiba would be getting up in about an hour, which meant it was time for them to get back into their own beds before Ol' Blue Eyes rose and found them there.

Which would be a lot easier if Mokuba was still the cute LITTLE eleven-year-old he had been when they had first met. He wouldn't be the slightest bit amazed if Mokuba ended up taller than his brother in a few years. He was almost halfway there as it was.

In the mean time, it was a good thing that Jounouchi had been working out lately or he wouldn't be able to do this at all. It was a very good thing he could catch a few hour naps while Mokuba was at Domino High, or he'd never get through the day.

Although just getting through the morning sparring sessions with the 'Ol Blue Eyed Dragon there was interesting. One of these mornings, he was just going to leave Mokuba on his brother's bed and let him explain.

Eh, Mokuba could probably talk his way out of it, saying it was a nightmare.

Yawning, he deposited Mokuba in his bed, pulling the blankets over the sleeping kid. This was probably what it was like to have kids of your own, the strange wake up calls in the middle of the night. This certainly hadn't been part of the job description when he signed on.

Course, neither was sleeping with the ice bastard Kaiba either.

Sleep. As in just sleeping. Not sharing a bed for any recreational purposes. Nothing like that. Not that he -wanted- to do anything in a bed with the bastard Kaiba...

Jeez, it was too early in the morning for this. He hadn't even woken up yet and his mind was already playing tricks with the innuendo. Maybe it was time to start looking for a girlfriend...

He shut the door to Mokuba's room and wandered over to his own, stretching absentmindedly. Sleep. Sleep was good. He still had about an hour of rest before Kaiba woke him up to get sweaty and grapple.

Again with the innuendo!

Eh, fack it. The lack of sleep was getting to him.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto muffled a yawn as he typed, pausing rub at the bridge of his nose, temporarily displacing his computer glasses. His sleeping patterns were changing and he'd yet to adjust to the new routines.

He'd driven himself to work late and rise early for years, partly to exhaust himself to the point where he wouldn't dream, partly because the company had needed it. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, keeping Kaiba Corporation from the vultures no longer demanded the insane hours it once had. No longer having to waste time with the farce called High School had helped as well, although he had enrolled in some on-line computer classes, so he wasn't entirely title-less in the education department.

The nightmares of his youth still occasionally plagued him, although lately they seemed to be fading somewhat. And with the fading of the nightmares, he was getting more sleep at night. Which one should have suspected would lead to him having more energy during the day, except for the fact he often woke up to find his limbs heavy, like they were just getting blood flow restored to them.

More sleep, yes. Just not always of the better quality. And while it did appear that the nightmares were getting less frequent, much to his regret, last night had been one of the bad nights. He could definitely feel it today.

The door opened, a shaggy blond head peeking in without knocking first. Seto dropped his hand, resuming typing. He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of Jounouchi's presence in his life. The blond wasn't as big of a disruption as he would have once thought, they still baited each other, but it seemed to be more out of habit than anything else. And amusement on Seto's part.

At least Mokuba seemed happier. That was the important part. For Mokuba's happiness, he'd put up with a lot more than an annoying blond in attractively tight jeans.

The mutt crept closer to the desk, setting down a large lidded white cup on the desk by Seto's monitor. One of Seto's eyebrows rose as he glanced at it, Jounouchi already turning to walk away. "What's this?" He questioned. Not a sandwich this time, something new.

"Coffee." The blond shot back with a shrug, but his shoulders were braced, as if expecting either a verbal explosion or to dodge an attack.

Seto reached out, picked up the cup and took a cautious sip. The savoury bitter flavour of coffee exploded across his tongue. Coffee, -Good- Coffee, black and bitter with just the barest hint of vanilla and hazelnut in it. He could feel his energy levels rise just from the small taste.

Caffeine, Nectar of the Gods. He was going to nominate Jounouchi to Sainthood. If not Sainthood, then a Vice Presidency or something.

He grunted and set the cup down. "It'll do." Seto said grudgingly.

Jounouchi made an amused sound, shoulders relaxing as he continued walking out of the office. The blond had probably asked someone how Seto took his coffee, to get it the way Seto liked it. And had bothered to realise that Seto needed a caffeine fix in the first place, something that he didn't need to bother concerning himself about.

The blond did that a lot. It still puzzled Seto, there wasn't anything to earn by doing so.

"Thanks." He said quietly, before resuming his typing.

Jounouchi paused as he opened the door, as if surprised by the break in their usual semi-hostile bickering. "Welcome." The blond said quietly, flashing Seto a quick cheerful grin, the likes of which were usually reserved for Yuugi, before he vanished out the door.

Seto reached for the cup again, taking a sip. Heaven.

Okay, so perhaps the mutt had his uses after all. Maybe Seto could tolerate to keep him around, just for a little while.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yuuuuuuuuugiiii!!" While the smaller man was expecting a joyful welcome from his best friend Jounouchi, he was not expecting the double tackle he got from his best friend AND the younger Kaiba as soon the door opened to the Kaiba household.

The younger Kaiba who was now slightly taller than him, with a great deal more mass as well.

"Aah! Nice to know I'm welcomed..." He commented weakly, the breath nearly squeezed out of him.

Jounouchi was a hands-on, easy to read person. If he liked you, you got hugs, play-wrestling and hair mussings. If he didn't like you, you got fists in the face and feet in the gut. Mokuba in the past had been affectionate only towards his brother, but several months in Jounouchi's influence had obviously changed that.

Both ends of the 'Yuugi sandwich' snickered happily, shaking him slightly before they broke apart, pulling him to the warmth of the mansion.

"Wasn't sure if you'd really come or not!" Mokuba grinned; bouncing around him as Jounouchi took his pack. "Cause 'Niisama's gonna be here too, but I made him promise not to challenge you to any duels. It'd be a shame to ruin a perfectly good movie night fighting."

Hint hint, nudge nudge. "I'll do my best not to challenge him to any duels either." He promised.

"You'd think Duellin' was all anybody ever thought about in this household." Jounouchi grumbled good-naturedly. This earned him wide-eyed incredulous looks from both the still Number One Ranking Duellist and the Number Two Ranking Duellist's younger brother.

"It's not?!"

Yuugi found himself being pulled through the maze of the house by Mokuba, both of them laughing madly as Jounouchi chased them, mildly cursing all the way. The blond chased them around a large room obviously meant as a comfortable living room, the three of them ducking, dodging and scrambling over furniture, their laughter punctuated by the occasional yips and yells until they collapsed in a snickering heap on the sofa.

He glanced up in time to see the elder Kaiba standing in the doorway with a dispassionate eye. "Yo, Kaiba-kun!" He waved.

Kaiba inclined his head and walked away.

"Don't take it personally." Mokuba suggested from his sprawled position, pinning Jounouchi's legs to the sofa. "He's just not used to having other people in the house."

"Oi, Mokuba." Jounouchi prodded the dark haired boy with a leg. "Is he? ...Y'know. Tonight."

The younger Kaiba seemed to know immediately what the blond was saying. "He should be fine."

"Okay." Any apparent worry dissipated at Mokuba's words. Yuugi raised an eyebrow. Jounouchi? Worrying about Kaiba? When did this happen?

Of course, he supposed that having lived under the same roof as him for the past several months might have had something to do with it. And Jounouchi had yet to show up at the game shop cursing and sputtering like he used to after an encounter with Kaiba, so that was a positive sign.

Yuugi grinned. It was always nice to see his friends get along.

"So, food first or movie first or just grab snacks to watch during movie?" Jounouchi was practically crackling with glee, nearly pushing the two smaller people off the sofa onto the floor.

"Food!" Mokuba cheered, hopping off. "We can bring it up here and watch the movie!"

Jounouchi just grinned, glancing over with a slightly apologetic shrug. "What can I say? Kid after my own heart."

"You've trained him well, Jounouchi-kun."

"Hey!"

Several hours later, the spiky haired boy glanced down at his best friend, who was sprawled out over two of the three futons they had put on the floor and snoring. Mokuba wasn't much better, using Jounouchi's rising and falling chest as a pillow, snoring in counterpoint to the blond.

Yuugi smiled serenely at his friends. They had worn each other out, watching the movies, munching on popcorn and junk food, wrestling like kids and chattering away at each other. He should really be asleep like them; he'd been just as bad as the two of them, but he wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment a while longer.

Jounouchi seemed happy here. Yuugi was both relived and uneasy. Jounouchi and Mokuba got along well, but he had a few unanswered questions. Most of them dealing with the taller man standing in the doorway silently watching them.

He slipped out from under Jounouchi's sprawled arm and quietly padded over to Kaiba. Once again, he wished he were just a little bit taller. It was hard to feel intimidating when you barely came up to someone's chest. They stood in silence for several minutes, watching the sleepers, before Kaiba finally acknowledged him.

"Yuugi."

"Kaiba-kun."

Silence followed. Yuugi sparkled at the stoic businessman. "It's nice to see my friends finally getting along."

Kaiba grunted, not willing to admit to any claim of friendship.

Yuugi smiled wider. "And I just wanted to let you know that while I may not have a puzzle any longer, I do have a shovel." He said sweetly. He had a frying pan too, but that didn't sound nearly as threatening. "And a former tomb robber that owes me a favour or two."

Actually, it was more like he owed Bakura a favour or two, but the former past-life tomb robber would probably be more than happy to help out...

And if he didn't, Malik knew the -best- places to hide a body.

An eyebrow lifted, Kaiba turning the full force of his attention at him. "Is that a threat?" The words were a low hiss, a menacing rumble from a not-quite slumbering dragon.

"No. Just letting you know." He smiled cheerfully. "Jounouchi-kun is my best friend. I don't want to see him hurt."

He liked to see his friends get along. However, that did not mean he was going to stand by and do nothing if his friends were hurting each other. And Jounouchi was far less likely to hurt Kaiba then Kaiba was to hurt Jounouchi. Although, granted, Kaiba was more likely to do it without realising it.

"I have no interest in the puppy." Kaiba said disdainfully, returning his attention towards the slumbering boys again. "He's Mokuba's concern, not mine."

Yuugi nodded. And that would be why Jounouchi talked about the older Kaiba as often as he did Mokuba. And why Kaiba was staring at Jounouchi as much as he was his brother....

Well, he supposed some things never changed. Kaiba was and probably always would be stubborn, especially when it came to letting people in close around him. It was just one of those things that made him Kaiba.

Just as Jounouchi was stubborn when it came to the people he cared about.

It would be interesting to see who would win the clash of the thick skulls.

"Just so long as we both know where the other stands." He smiled genteelly and patted Kaiba on the arm. "Good night, Kaiba-kun. Sleep well."

Kaiba grunted in response. Yuugi merely bowed his head and returned to the futons, curling up next to Jounouchi again.

He was aware of the taller boy's presence lurking in the doorway for a while before he fell asleep.

When Yuugi woke up again a few hours before dawn, he was surprised when he glanced around the unfamiliar surroundings to count three heads beside his own on the futons instead of two.

Jounouchi was next to him, snoring away softly. On the far end he could make out Mokuba's wild locks.

And Kaiba slept peacefully nestled in between the two of them, Mokuba now partly sprawled across his brother instead of his keeper. Jounouchi hadn't seemed to have noticed, one of his arms draped across Kaiba where it had earlier been around Mokuba.

He hid a grin; silently wishing his Other Self could see this, their fearsome rival looking not quite so fierce, in a peaceful way.

One thing his Other Self had taught him was that there was an art to sharing a bed with another person. It had been awkward, the first several times his Other Self had slept outside of the puzzle, for one reason or another. Didn't matter that they were two parts of a whole, or that they were similar sizes, it was just... odd, to be asleep and roll over and find someone there. Limbs didn't match up, waking up with hair, non-corporal or not, in your face and mouth.

Not to mention buckles getting tangled up...

But after a while, they just kind of figured it out. Yuugi had always slept better with his Other Self nearby, feeling safe, protected. The same when Jounouchi had moved in with him as well.

He'd fallen out of the habit, his Other Self having passed on and Jounouchi having left the Game Shop, but none of his current bed companions apparently had any of that awkwardness.

Almost made him wonder. Maybe they were getting along better then either was saying.

A yawn blind-sided him and he lay back down, snuggled contentedly next to his larger friend's side. It was nice to sleep next to someone, almost as good as it had been when his Other Self had been there....

He was willing to bet that by the time he woke up again it would be the three of them again, leaving them to wonder if Kaiba had visited them or not. He smiled as Mokuba stirred and whispered his brother's name, clinging to Kaiba like he was afraid his brother was going to disappear on them.

On the other hand, perhaps it wasn't any of his business.

But it certainly would be interesting to see how everything would turn out.

 

+++  
+++

 

Wake up.

Climb out of Kaiba's bed.

Put Mokuba back in his bed.

Go back to sleep. In own bed.

Wake up.

Glare at smirking bastard Kaiba.

Go to spar.

Hand Kaiba his ass.

Get ass handed back several times.

Take shower.

Get dressed.

Wake up Mokuba.

Eat breakfast.

Finally wake up. Coffee good.

Notice something odd in reflection of coffeepot.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!"

"Language, Jounouchi." Mokuba scolded from over his bowl of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.

"Yeah... but... but... " Jounouchi gestured empathically towards his reflection, then reversed the motion and tugged at the leather collar around his neck.

The collar with the initials 'KC' hanging from the front like tags on a dog's collar. It certainly hadn't been on him when he went to sleep last night...

"Oh. Cool!" Mokuba grinned. "I see you got a communicator!"

"Communicator?" What did that have to do with dog collars?!

"Yeah." Mokuba turned the collar of his school uniform to one side, to show off the 'KC' pin displayed there. "'Niisama and I use them to communicate, usually while hosting a duel. It's easier than a phone, cause all you have to do is press it once to start talking, so it's hands free, which is nice when we're looking for trouble. It's pretty much for emergency use only. Since you got one, I think this means that 'Niisama finally accepts you as my guard."

Oh.

Well, that still didn't explain how the dog collar got there...

Note to self: Get more sleep. Obviously messing with awareness levels.

"Couldn't I have gotten something round? Something that screams less 'Property of Kaiba Corporation'?"

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yer fooling me."

Mokuba smirked. "Nope."

Jounouchi's eyebrows disappeared into his hair as he looked around the volcanic island Mokuba had dragged him to. "Kaiba's opening a Duelling School?" On a possibly dormant volcanic island, no less.

"Academia." Mokuba affirmed.

"Ya mean that ownin' the rights to the duelling equipment, the theme parks and the tournaments aren't enough? He's gotta start his own school too?"

"Yeah, well..." Mokuba shrugged. "Look at it this way. The really -good- Duellists do really bad in school, right?"

"Well..." The blond scratched his head. "I prolly wouldn't have done much better even without ditching to attend tournaments. But Yuugi went from being one of the highest ranking students to one of the lowest after startin' Duel Monsters."

"Exactly. The good Duellists, the serious ones, don't tend to do as well in school -because- they spend all that time away from it for Tournaments and Duels and such. So if you have a school -for- Duelling..."

"...Then the serious Duellists have a way to Duel, go to school and even possibly graduate."

"You got it." Mokuba's grin lit up his entire face. "And Kaiba Corporation has an immediate target audience to test and give us feedback on the latest duelling innovations too."

"Beta testing and feedback, all in one centralised location." Jounouchi grinned, putting his new-found business knowledge to work. Mokuba had been a patient teacher, teaching him the jargon and the behind the scenes of the business world once he'd admitted he was clueless as to what exactly everyone was busy with. Suddenly what had seemed like mindless meetings made sense. Or some of them anyway, some of them -were- really mindless. But it was really surprising to realise just exactly how hard Kaiba worked. "Smart."

"Yes!" Mokuba cheered. "He -can- be taught!!!"

"Eh, shaddup." It wasn't nice to hit your boss... it wasn't nice to hit your boss... However, hair noogies were okay. Which he then quickly proceeded to do, gleefully wrapping an arm around the wild-haired boy's neck and proceeding to rub the knuckles of his fist into Mokuba's scalp. The teen squawked, laughed and attempted to squirm his way out of Jounouchi's grasp.

Which is how Kaiba found them when he stepped back into the entrance way to the school to see what was holding them up. One perfectly arched eyebrow rose at the display of roughhousing. "If you're done molesting my brother..."

"'NIISAMA!!!!" Mokuba's screech would have been pure comedy in motion, if it hadn't come from less than a hand's breadth from his ear. He quickly released his grip so that the younger teen could charge and attempt to strangle his older brother.

Which was a sight that more than made up for the temporary deafness in one ear...

Grinning slightly to himself, he followed the Kaiba brothers into what was shaping up to be... well, a school. Dorms, Classrooms, Cafeteria, Gymnasium, Auditorium.

State of the Art Duelling Arenas.

Sweet.

Kaiba grunted upon noticing Jounouchi's attention to the large platforms and hologram projectors. "They should be working. Still need to do some testing to see if the new modifications work."

Mokuba got that look that meant he just went from zero to forty in two brain cells flat. Jounouchi held up a hand as he began to look between the two taller men with a calculating gleam in his eyes. "Oh, no..."

"Aw, come on..." Mokuba wheedled.

Kaiba glanced nervously between the two of them.

"It's perfect." Mokuba continued blithely. "You both have your decks, don't you?"

"The Mutt?" The sound out of Kaiba's mouth is halfway between a squeak and a growl.

"Oi. I could kick your butt."

"Unlikely."

Jounouchi grinned, wolf like. Gotcha. "Put yer skills where your mouth is, Dragon-boy."

Slight pause from Kaiba, then the Blue Eyes look came over his features, the one that said that someone was going to be on the end of a dragon driven Burst Stream soon. "You're on."

A cheer from Mokuba, a wave to the technicians and they were on their way up the raised platforms to duel it out. Jounouchi glanced down at his charge, realising that Mokuba was looking back and forth between them with obvious conflict.

"Oi, Mokuba!" He waved. "Cheer us both on!"

Panic disappeared from Mokuba's eyes as the kid waved back. Mokuba may have liked him, but Kaiba was his brother. It wasn't fair to make him choose between the two of them in who to cheer on.

Then it was time to duel.

 

+++  
+++

 

"YE-AH!!" Mokuba cheered, bouncing around. "That was so cool!!! Both the Blue Eyes White Dragon AND the Red Eyes Black Dragon!!! At the same time!!! Whoooooooo!!!" Not that he'd inherited his brother's fondness for dragons, no....

"Yeah!" Jounouchi grinned, slapping Mokuba five on one of Mokuba's passes. Jounouchi was feeling pretty darn good about the duel from the looks of it.

'Niisama gave them both a stony look. "You lost." He pointed out to Jounouchi, clearly not comprehending their obvious enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but it was a close loss." Jounouchi's grin grew wider, if that was possible at all. "If Time Wizard hadn't landed on the skull, I would have kicked your ass and you know it."

This earned him a disdainful snort. "Placing the outcome of the entire duel on one spin-"

"Works well fer me, so shaddup about it." Jounouchi drawled lazily. "You got yer techniques, I got mine. And next time, we're gonna cream ya."

"'We'-?" 'Niisama asked archly as Mokuba watched the verbal spat go back and forth like it was a tennis match. 'Niisama really was warming up to Jounouchi well, Mokuba grinned to himself. Six months ago 'Niisama wouldn't have bothered to discuss the match at all.

"Me and the rest of my deck." Jounouchi grinned toothily. "Why? Ya nervous?"

"Hardly." But there weren't any comments about not wasting the energy on a lower ranking worthy duellist, which was a step in the right direction. Sometimes with 'Niisama, it was more what he didn't say than what he did say.

"So what's with the colour scheme around here anyway?" Jounouchi asked, changing the subject as he glanced around. "Red, Blue, Yellow. Your designer guys forget the rest of the colour palette?"

"The three levels of classes, actually." Kaiba informed him mildly, although there was still a touch of disdain in his tone. "Obelisk Blue, Ra Gold, and Osiris Red."

"Who's top?"

"Obelisk, actually. Ra is the middle level for duellists who test well coming in and Osiris is left for rabble-rousers and lower class players."

Jounouchi paused and Mokuba had to refrain from laughing as Jounouchi put it together. Obelisk been 'Niisama's card at the start of Battle City, just as Osiris became Yuugi's. And Osiris was the lowest level.

"Still got some animosity there, huh Kaiba?" Jounouchi said, glancing at 'Niisama sideways.

"I beg your pardon?" 'Niisama's eyebrow rose again. Mokuba snickered. 'Niisama wasn't very good at playing innocent. Although the original thought had been for the colours, not the cards. The colours weren't just for the classes, it was a handy health gauge for life-points in a duel as well. Blue was healthy, yellow was a warning and red meant you were dangerously low on life points. Or, in the case of the school, in danger of flunking out.

"Never mind." The blond shook his head. "Where's the Yellow's classrooms?"

"Gold." 'Niisama corrected archly, which had probably been the whole point. "They're not complete yet."

"Right over here, Jounouchi!" Mokuba volunteered, bounding off. There was still only so much contact that 'Niisama and Jounouchi could handle before things started getting tense again. And they still had the helicopter ride back home to deal with.

"Perfect." Jounouchi smirked, a look of pure mischief on his face as he followed Mokuba.

Mokuba grinned as well, his bodyguard's enthusiasm infectious. "What are we doing?"

"Being a deviant high school malcontent." He grinned.

"Sweet!" Mokuba bounced. He didn't get a chance to do that very often. "Which room do you want, Jounouchi?"

"Toilets."

"Just past the Egyptian room." Mokuba lead the way.

"Egyptian room?" He echoed.

"Since many of our... past adventures kinda originated from Egypt, 'Niisama thought it was a good idea to teach students exactly where the game came from, to prevent it happening a second time." Mokuba shrugged. He had a bit of an easier time accepting the strange magical occurrences than 'Niisama, but he was still more a child of science then magic. "Toilets?"

"Here we are." Jounouchi spotted the toilets and ducked into the men's room, eyeing the nice clean walls. On the third stall, he crouched down, pulling a pen out of his pocket and began to write.

"Graffiti?" Mokuba's eyes went wide and incredulous. The school wasn't even finished yet, much less had students and Jounouchi was already adding graffiti?

"Every school has it." Jounouchi agreed easily as he stepped back from the wall. "Doesn't seem like one if it doesn't. There. Tell me whatcha think. It ain't no 'They paint these walls to stop my pen, but the outhouse bandit has struck again', but I think it's appropriate."

He didn't have to ask twice, Mokuba crouching down to read it. "Hail to the Sun God, He's a Real Fun God, Ra Ra Ra..."

"'Niisama's probably gonna kill you for that." Mokuba informed him soberly, although he was having a hard time keeping from laughing. "I like it."

"Glad to be of service." Jounouchi snapped a sloppy mock-salute, causing Mokuba to finally break down into giggles. "Now just need to think of rhymes for 'Osiris' and 'Obelisk'...."

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi looked around Kaiba Land with a grin, at all the screaming happy kids, the few hassled looking parents, the teenagers trying to pretend that they were too cool for this and failing. The place was packed and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Every so often someone would shout and wave at them, but for the most part they were left alone to wander the park.

"Pretty cool of you to invite everyone your age or younger to the park for free on your birthday." He commented. Talk about a hell of a way to celebrate your fifteen birthday. He almost wondered how they were going to top it for Mokuba's sixteenth.

"Well, not -all- of them." Mokuba demurred as he looked around with a fond grin. "Just the ones who grabbed free tickets from the game shops around Domino."

Jounouchi cheerfully messed up Mokuba's long hair, causing the dark haired teenager to laugh and dodge his hand. Mokuba attempted to smooth down his waist length hair, which was doing it's usual trick of flying everywhere. It was hard to believe that Mokuba was related to Kaiba sometimes, especially when he looked like a ruffian.

"Still, it's cool of ya to do so." Jounouchi smiled, watching the kids play. As much as he hated to admit it, Ol' Blue Eyes did good work. ... At least with amusement parks. And as an older brother. And maybe as a duellist. But that was about it. Really. "-But aren't you going to lose a lotta money from this?"

"Not in the long run." Mokuba smirked, a very Kaiba-gesture. "And we're not losing much today. People sixteen and over still have to pay to get in, the food's not free, nor are any of the souvenirs or booth games. People will come, ride the new ride, tell their friends and then they'll come back with more people. It's good marketing."

Jounouchi laughed nervously. Every time he though he had them figured out, something like this would happen. He changed the subject.

"Ya still haven't told me what you want for your birthday." He commented, sticking his hands in his pockets. They'd gone on the new roller coaster that opened today first thing in the morning, the first official riders of it. It was fitting, since the new coaster was somewhat named after Mokuba. Or Kaiba, really... seeing as 'Mokuba' meant 'Wooden Horse' and 'Kaiba' was 'Horse of the Ocean', so the horse thing was definitely there. 'Seto' meant 'Turmoil' or 'Chaos', so the new rollercoaster, 'Ranma' --or 'Wild Horse'-- fit into the family quite nicely. Even if it wasn't actually wood.

And was a fun ride, no less. Although Jounouchi could have lived without the splashing through one of the ponds towards the end.

Mokuba looked up at him gravely, none of the humour or cheer Jounouchi was expecting from a teenager on his birthday at the prospect of gifts. "You can not give me gifts as my birthday present." Mokuba muttered darkly before looking away.

"Huh?" That... wasn't making much sense. For once, Jounouchi had the cash to actually get somebody something for their birthday and they didn't want anything? Although, come to think about it, when he'd picked up Mokuba from school, Mokuba hadn't looked all that happy with the large bag of loot he'd come out with, stuffed full with ribbons and cards.

"I'm a Kaiba." The dark haired boy gave him a weak sardonic smile, before motioning around the park. "There isn't anything I need and anything I could want, I already have. Yet people try to give me gifts... but it's usually a bribe of some sort, they rarely come without strings attached. So other than from 'Niisama, I don't like getting gifts."

That... was really a sad way to look at the world. Sad, but brutally honest. Being filthy rich had its perks... and it's downsides. Big downsides, as Jounouchi was learning.

Well, tonight they'd have dinner with Kaiba, and then the chocolate ice cream cake that Jounouchi knew was in the freezer, waiting for them. And Jounouchi would do his best not to pick a fight with Ol' Blue Eyes. Or maybe he would do his best to pick a fight with Ol' Blue Eyes, depending on which would make Mokuba laugh. Or just because it was fun. Something.

He reached out and ruffled Mokuba's hair again, pulling the slightly smaller teenager just off balance enough for a quick one armed hug before releasing him. "Happy Birthday, kid."

Mokuba smiled at him, it wasn't one of Mokuba's happy gleeful grins, but it was better than the earlier mocking look.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Hey." Mokuba looked down at the two stone markers. One was covered with dirt, leaves, and lichen with some of the corners broken off from obvious abuse. The other one was also covered in leaves, but it was in much better condition. It was to this one that he turned his attention to brushing off the leaves that littered it.

"It's been a year. How have you been doing?" He commented, half expecting a reply as he always did. He didn't get one, of course, just the rustle of the wind through the trees and the soft noises of the small animals that lived in the forest around them.

"Sorry I didn't bring a broom to clean this properly." Mokuba continued. "I didn't want Jounouchi to know where I was going. Maybe next time. You remember him, right? Loud, blond hair? He's my bodyguard now. I lost him a while back in the woods, he's going to be mad at me when we meet up again."

He got the top of the marker cleaned off, then worked on the front. "It's been a pretty quiet year this year, compared to some of the others." He commented, ignoring the dust and mud that covered his hands. "No world shaking events, just lots of smaller ones. Jounouchi's the biggest. And I started High School. It's just as boring as Middle School though. Jounouchi made me a deal back when we started, that I could cut class if I had a good reason. That's how I got here today."

Mokuba hadn't actually expected Jounouchi to follow through on his end of the agreement, but so far the blond had. He hadn't cut school nearly as often as he had before, Jounouchi wouldn't accept 'bored' as an excuse, but the occasional 'sanity break' was okay. Usually Jounouchi dragged him to the park to play old folks games, like Go and Shogi, with crafty, cranky old people. It was actually kinda fun. Although Mokuba refused play Chess with anyone other than 'Niisama.

Today he'd said he'd had a meeting and Jounouchi had agreed. Mokuba was sure that he'd confused Jounouchi when they'd gone far out of town into the forest, then walked for a while. It had taken a little bit longer to lose his guard, but he didn't want anyone else knowing where this was. This was his secret place, and 'Niisama's. No one else's.

He talked as he cleaned, removing as much debris as he could from a year's worth of neglect. It was all the small inconsequential things, not anything he hadn't said in his head a million times, one of a thousand unspoken conversations, but saying it here always made it seem more real. How 'Niisama was doing, the projects they were working on, the changes to the company, technological advances, plans for the next year, his constant hopes and progress.

It was a small comfort. Not much of one, but a small one.

The marker was as clean as it ever was when he finished talking, pouring half of the water bottle he'd brought with him over the top of it. He was silent as he pulled out the handful of incense sticks, placed them in the chipped bowl in front of the marker, and lit them.

He could hear Jounouchi in the distance, shuffling the leaves with unusually loud footsteps. Time to go.

Mokuba clapped his hands twice and murmured a quick prayer, the scent of the incense mixing with the smell of the damp earth he'd just disturbed. He hesitated a moment after he finished, reaching out to trace the words carved into the stone before he turned away to join his probably worried bodyguard.

"I'll see you later." He promised, like he did every year when he came to visit the hidden grave. "Happy Obon, Noa."

 

+++  
+++

 

Crap.

Crap crap crap crap with a whole plate of crapolla on the side.

He'd woken up late. The sun was up, lighting Kaiba's room through the closed curtains just enough to see easily.

And here he was, pinned by Mokuba on one side and Kaiba on the other, their body weight pressing against him, holding him down and preventing him from getting the hell out of there.

Trapped. Crap.

He nudged Mokuba with an elbow the best he could. "Wake up, Mokuba." He hissed, deliberately -not- looking at Ol' Blue Eyes at his back. He was dead. D-E-D, dead. "Wake up."

The tangled mass of black hair that was Mokuba stirred and mumbled a bit, then settled back down, one arm flopping over Jounouchi. Dammit. "Wake UP." He nudged the teen again. "Dammit, I -so- don't wanna know what your brother's gonna say when he wakes up and finds me here."

"He's going to say it would be a shame to waste the one morning this month that can be used for sleeping in late arguing." Kaiba's sleep-rough voice rumbled at his back, causing all of his muscles in his body to freeze. Oh... shit.

"Go back to sleep, Mutt." Kaiba ordered drowsily, shifting slightly and somehow managing to press closer. "Mokuba will most likely wake in a few hours and demand to eat sugar laden cereal and watch cartoons in bed."

"Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs." Mokuba murmured sleepily. "And that new duelling anime."

Jounouchi's head hit the pillow. He wasn't dead. He wasn't getting his ass kicked from here to Uranus.

When had he stepped into the Twilight Zone?

"Sleep, Mutt." Kaiba ordered again.

Oh... kay...

Well, sleep was good. He obviously wasn't going anywhere anyway. And if Kaiba wasn't going to beat him bloody for finding him in his bed, he wasn't going to argue.

And when they woke up in the morning, they'd watch Saturday morning cartoons, get hyped up on sugared cereals and Mokuba and him would team up and skunk Kaiba in a pillow fight.

Actually, that sounded like a pretty good start to a weekend to him...

 

+++  
+++

To say that Kaiba Seto was annoyed would be a vast understatement.

He was -livid-.

After taking Kaiba Corporation from Gozaburou and then later wrestling it from the Big Five, Industrial Illusions and Dooma, he had performed many many through background checks, searches and examinations of Kaiba Corporation, it's subsidiary companies and dummy corporations. He thought he had dug up the last of the military related projects and destroyed them all years ago.

But no, like a bad trap card that popped up at the most inconvenient time, another one had been discovered.

It was a good thing that Gozaburou was already dead, twice over, or Kaiba would have gleefully taken care of the bastard. Again.

This one was a Research and Development site, nothing was completely authorised to be produced unless checked with the head of Kaiba Corporation. Research was not due to be completed for several years, meaning he wouldn't have even learned of it's existence until farther down the road. -If the facility hadn't been discovered during an audit of a sub-company far down the subsidiary chain when someone realised that no one in that branch of Kaiba Corporation made small cutesy plush animals.

Animals were about the only thing that the cover did have in common. Mokuba and Jounouchi hung close to him, even as they stood straight and tall in anger and pride. Their eyes both hard and soft in outrage and sympathy as they looked at the creatures in the cages. They had stopped to pet some of the friendlier ones at the front of the building --he'd have to remind the Mutt to wash his hands before they got home, he was quite sure the blond now smelled of the Golden Retriever he'd petted-- but the farther in they got, the more they subtly clung to each other.

Seto had been informed that the company was experimenting with something that had been shelved decades ago by a different company, some sort of mysterious splicer formula called 'MixMaster' in the hopes of recreating it and fixing some of the flaws.

End result: War beasts. Juggernauts. Hideous creatures designed to be released onto the battlefield, sowing terror and destruction wherever they were seen.

That was something Seto was not going to allow to come to fruition. Not after seeing the grotesque results. Some of the resulting mangled creatures were poorly suited for life, such as the frog with wings. Other concoctions were simply terrifying. Nothing should ever be crossed with either a piranha or a badger. The resulting misshapen creatures were ill tempered to say the least.

It made his chest ache and his stomach roll to look upon the creatures. The nightmares his brother and the guard dog were going to have was not something he cared to think too deeply about at the moment.

The labs themselves were sterile and clean, up to date on the safety codes that seemed to be blatantly ignored when it came to the animals themselves.

Seto was not impressed.

"Regular little shop of horrors around here." Jounouchi muttered under his breath to Mokuba. Mokuba gave a soft chuckle, some of the tenseness in his expression fading at the humour, but he continued to press close to their taller forms, recoiling at the horrors.

Their gracious hosts seemed to pick up on their attitudes, scurrying around like mice, soft muttering sounds in the background while they strolled through the rooms. When the cats were away, he supposed.

"What's that thing do?" Mokuba questioned, motioning towards a large complicated device, that looked more like an instrument of torture more than anything else, a large vicious looking nozzle-like contraption on the front.

"Nothing, after we dismantle it." Seto growled.

Mokuba nodded in accord. The puppy didn't say anything, but there was a stubborn set to his jaw that Seto thought was in agreement.

Seto dismissed it from his mind, continuing walking through the laboratories, mentally preparing lists, things that would need to be taken care of to close this facility down. Therefore he was totally unprepared to be abruptly shoved into the wall. "Look out!"

His perception of everything seemed to slow down as the Mutt grabbed his brother, interposing himself between Mokuba and the machine they had just commented on. Clear translucent liquid, tossed from the direction of the machine impacted against the back of the blond's head, a smaller second glob striking Jounouchi in the lower back.

For a second, he thought it was water, or something mixed with water to make it somewhat thicker in consistency. A random attack, nothing to get pushed into a wall over.

Then the Mutt's eyes rolled to the back of his head as the blond pitched backwards, knees obviously collapsing under him. Seto reached out, an arm cradling the back of Jounouchi's head, quickly interposing himself between the blond and the floor. The impact of the dead weight pushed him into a half crouch, still supporting the blond's head and torso.

"JOUNOUCHI!!!" Mokuba shrieked, his face white, giving stark contrast to the dark hair and grey eyes wide in horror.

"He's fine." He spared a breath to assure his brother, using his free hand to check Jounouchi's pulse at the neck. The pulse was there, fast, but stable. The Mutt seemed to whimper in response, face pinched in a grimace of pain. Dammit. The machine dripped another glob of goo, dropping to the floor in front of the machine. "Turn that thing off NOW!!" Seto roared. "And get a Medic in here!!!"

Mokuba shook off his horror, running to the large machine and tearing what appeared to be the power cords out of the wall, causing the whine of machinery to fade. The shouts and footsteps of people running to see what the commotion was about echoed in the room instead, filling it with general chaos.

Seto's jaw twitched as he glared, stoically ignoring the tingling feeling in his arm where the blond's head rested.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi woke up with his head aching, throbbing to the beat of his heart. His mouth wasn't much better, feeling as if he'd been licking someone's disgusting carpet for the past three hours. Dry, fuzzy and not at all unlike something died there.

Damn. He hated hangovers.

And his ass hurt. This is why he didn't drink, not since that one time with Honda and the spiked fruit punch. For something like -looked- like water, vodka sure did pack a mean punch. Nasty hangover too. He swore he'd learned his lesson that time and hadn't touched anything even resembling alcoholic since then. He sure as hell didn't want to end up like his father, drinking his sorrows away at any opportunity.

Not to mention he really hated the whole 'What the Hell Did I Do Last Night?!' feeling.

With a groan, he opened his eyes, then pinched them shut as the grey blur drove a spike of pain into his head. With a grimace, he moved a hand to cover his eyes. Or attempted to do so. He couldn't move his arms.

Panic caused him to raise his head and opened his eyes despite the jabbing pain in his skull. He was in some sort of hospital bed, straps holding him down, arms tied to the sides.

WHAT THE HELL?!

"Oh, good." As if summoned, Kaiba appeared by the side of his bed, looming over him, his demeanour colder than ice. "You're finally awake."

"Kai..." Jounouchi attempted to growl back, but his throat was too dry to form the word properly. His demand to be released was similarly mangled.

"The restraints are for your own protection." Ol' Blue Eyes was furious, that much was clear. "You were writhing so much they were afraid you were going to hurt yourself. You took out several orderlies before they got you strapped down."

Go him, only he didn't know what the heck would lead him to do something like that.

Kaiba leaned over him, hands pressing against the pillows on either side of Jounouchi's head, arms pinning his head so he couldn't look away from Blue Eye's suddenly looming face. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" The businessman's voice was soft, but cold. Colder than a penguin's belly in Antarctica.

It didn't fool Jounouchi in the slightest. Even with all his mental processors not quite working right, he knew when the elder Kaiba was beyond furious. He just wasn't used to seeing it directed at -him-.

"Urm..." His mouth moved, but no words formed. He wished he knew. Really he did. Cause right now he got the feeling he was -real- low on the food chain. And he had a very good feeling about which particular Dragon was at the top of the food chain.

"You purposely put yourself in the path of danger." Kaiba growled, his face close enough that Jounouchi could feel the Ol' Blue Eyes's breath on his face. Someone had been drinking coffee lately. At least it wasn't hour old lunch. "If you had not taken the time to push me out of the way, you could have gotten both yourself and Mokuba to saftey!"

"Dat's m'JOB!" He snapped back, the words ripping roughly from his throat. They'd had this conversation before. "M'your freakin' Guard Dog, Kaiba! Ya hired me ta guard Mokuba and protectin' Mokuba means watchin' o'er you too!!"

Something flickered in Kaiba's face, he looked almost surprised for a second, pleased, then the scowl returned. "So he -can- talk."

"Shove it, Kaiba." Jounouchi snarled. It was an effort to enunciate his words, it felt like his tongue was too big for his mouth. "I can still take ya down."

He could too. He'd just eat dirt several times in the process.

"Whatever." Ol' Blue Eyes dismissed it. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Jounouchi shrugged, trying to wrestle his wrists out of the bindings that held him down. Man, he hated not being able to move. "Tourin' some freaky house o' horrors wit' you and Mokuba."

Freaky house of horrors... blank in memory... waking up in hospital... tied to the bed... in a definitely non-kinky fashion...

Something was not right in the world of Jounouchi Katsuya.

"Mokuba?" He glanced around, trying to peer around the wall that was Kaiba. "He okay?"

"He's fine." Kaiba deadpanned. "What else do you remember?"

"And nothin'." He glared at Kaiba. "What's goin' on? I feel fine." Okay, maybe not fine, but definitely nothing that would require enforced bed rest. Colours weren't quite as bright, his butt still hurt, the room stank of chemicals and other things he didn't want to think about and Kaiba looked like someone had just done something unmentionable to one of his precious Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

Kaiba straightened, releasing him from the looming imprisonment, pointedly not answering his question. "The doctors will be with you shortly."

Doctors? "Kaiba-?"

Ol' Blue Eyes stepped back, his face as expressionless as a stone statue. Jounouchi felt his temper melt away as cold fear replaced it, his heart nearly stopping in his chest. Something really bad had happened... Something so bad it had -scared- Kaiba.

Kaiba didn't get scared.

Jounouchi was now officially approaching shit-faced panicked.

"Get some rest and don't worry about anything." Kaiba informed him, -ordered- him. "I'm taking care of everything."

"Kaiba?" There was a bit of a pleading tone in his voice, but he dismissed it as worry.

"And in the future," Kaiba's tone was so cold Jounouchi was vaguely surprised that the air wasn't littered in icicles. "Consider that your orders are to get -yourself- out of the path of danger as well as Mokuba and/or myself." With that lovely parting shot, the businessman turned and walked out of the room without a backwards glance.

"Kaiba!" Jounouchi howled after him. Damn him, leaving before saying anything useful. And he was still tied to the bed.

Which majorly sucked.

And he still didn't know what the hell had happened!!!

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba shifted his weight from foot to foot as he peered inside the open door. Jounouchi lay on the bed, his eyes closed as if he were either asleep or dead. Except he wasn't dead because Mokuba could hear the receptive beep of the machines that were monitoring the blond's status.

He wasn't afraid to go in exactly, but he kind of was. It was his fault Jounouchi had ended up like this. If he'd been paying more attention instead of acting like a coward, he wouldn't have tripped over the cord and Jounouchi wouldn't have been hit by those flying blobs.

Then Jounouchi shifted slightly, turning his head towards the door. "I can hear someone out dere." The blond called. His voice was rougher than normal and it sounded like he was having some trouble speaking. "If you're not a nurse or a doctor, yer welcome ta come in."

Mokuba swallowed, then stepped in. "Hey, Jounouchi."

"Mokuba!" Jounouchi grinned, shifting to sit up, looking happy to see him. "C'mon in!"

"I... thanks." He shuffled in, looking down at his feet as he approached the bed. "How are you doing?"

"Like I've been felt up by a room fulla hookers." Jounouchi commented. "And none of dem friendly. You?"

"I'm... okay." Been better, been worse. He wasn't the one in the hospital, surrounded by doctors all trying to figure out what happened.

"But none of that stuff got on ya, right?" Jounouchi said, his voice serious and concerned.

Mokuba nodded, his gaze working it's way up from the floor to the railings. There were leather restraints attached, hanging loose. It looked like someone had pulled a number on them. "Yeah. Not so much as a drop."

"Good." Jounouchi breathed a sigh of obvious relief. "Was worried about dat. Yer brother was in here, while back. Shouted lots. Real pissed. Said ya were okay, wasn't sure."

"He wasn't angry at you." Mokuba said, his gaze travelling across the blankets, a sterile looking blue-grey. The fabric outlined Jounouchi's legs, which seemed normal enough through the material. "'Niisama was mad because you scared him and he's not used to that."

"Didn't mean ta." Jounouchi muttered, scratching the back of his head. Mokuba quickly shook his head.

"It's not that. 'Niisama's not used to having people close to him." Because Jounouchi was 'Niisama's friend, whether 'Niisama admitted it or not. And 'Niisama wasn't used to having friends, much less those precious people getting hurt.

The fact that Jounouchi had gotten hurt while protecting both of them... that just twisted the knife a little bit more. The sudden realisation that someone's pain other than either himself or Mokuba's actually mattered scared 'Niisama a lot more than he was ready to admit. He wasn't used to having people close.

It was a positive sign. Sort of.

"This is my fault." Mokuba said softly, his fingers curling into a fist, the nails biting into the palms of his hands.

"Naw." Jounouchi waved it off. "Y'just tripped. No biggie."

"No." Mokuba ground out. "It was my fault that you were there at all."

"Y'wouldn't leave yer brother ta go dere alone." Jounouchi protested, sounding slightly puzzled. Where 'Niisama went, Mokuba went. And where Mokuba went, Jounouchi watched over. "No fault dere."

"You don't understand!" Mokuba snapped. "I didn't hire you to protect me! I hired you because... because..." He trailed off, his throat closing over the words.

Jounouchi was quiet, but he could feel the curious confusion radiating from the blond. Mokuba took a breath and started over. "I'm not going to be here all the time. I'm in High School now, in a few years I'm going to be in college, and probably travelling and going abroad. I'm Vice President of Kaiba Corporation, after all." Which meant that he had responsibilities that he needed to take care of. Some of which he didn't have right now because he was still in school, but would in a few years.

And as Vice President, it didn't make sense for both of them to always be in the same tower when he could be more useful travelling to their other headquarters.

"But when I'm away, 'Niisama's going to need someone. Someone to make sure he eats and takes breaks. Get him out of the Tower occasionally and remind him he's human. He's going to need a friend." He glanced down at the foot of the bed, afraid to look at Jounouchi's reaction. "Which is why I got you. Yeah, you fight with 'Niisama a lot, but he needs that occasionally. You royally piss him off sometimes, but it's an honest emotion. And you've never backed down from him. So I figured this way you could both get used to each other. Yeah, I can use someone as my private guard, but I can behave and just have the Kaiba Corporation Security."

He didn't -need- Jounouchi as his bodyguard. It was easier, and turned to be a lot more fun than he'd anticipated, but he could make do if he needed to.

"So. Um. Anyway." He tugged on a lose strand of hair until it hurt, the twinge of pain helping to keep his mind clear. "If you don't want to work for me... for us anymore, I can totally understand that. False pretences and stuff. We'll make sure that you're comfortably set up, you won't have to see us again if that's what you want. Especially after all this."

Jounouchi was silent for a while, and he could feel the blond's gaze on him. Mokuba tried not to wince. It was probably kind of mean of him, to hurt Jounouchi like this, and then say 'Oh yeah, by the way, I lied when hired you, I really want to be my brother's friend, even though you dislike each other's guts passionately'.

Hah. Such a lovely plan. Really. Because of that, Jounouchi had followed him into that place. Then Mokuba had tripped over the cord and Jounouchi had ended up like this.

"Idiots." Jounouchi finally muttered darkly. Mokuba jerked his head up, looking at Jounouchi's knees again.

"Huh?"

"M'surrounded by idiots." Jounouchi said, louder this time. Mokuba blinked and glanced up at Jounouchi's face. The blond was thin, looking both ill and exhausted with shadows under his eyes. However, his brown eyes were still vibrant, full of life. "M'not leavin', not unless ya want me to. M'not the smartest, nor the bravest or the most honourable or whatever else. But m'loyal ta my friends. S'all I've ever had ta offer and damned if m'gonna stop now."

"I... you..." Mokuba trailed off, his gaze dropping down again. "... Thank you." Either Jounouchi really was the world's biggest idiot, or they had really lucked out in the friendship department.

"Welcome." Jounouchi reached out and patted Mokuba's hand. Mokuba swallowed, noticing how Jounouchi's wrist bones stood out against the golden skin. Jounouchi seemed to pick up on his awkwardness and retracted his hand.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Mokuba asked, trying to cover up the unease. "Or I can get you?"

"I could use Yuugi right about now." Jounouchi said, leaning back against the stark white pillows, sounding weary.

"I can call him for you, if you'd like." Mokuba offered. "A driver can pick him up and he can be here in less than an hour."

"Nah." Jounouchi looked at his hand, flexing his long fingers. "Don't wanna scare him just yet. He's just good ta hug, y'know? Everyone here's so..."

Cold. Clinical. Detached. The doctors were still trying to understand what had happened and why, which meant long days of tests for Jounouchi. The goop had created twenty-three other new hybrids, all under the size of a pinky nail, but only two other than Jounouchi were still living. The rest had died in a manner of minutes or hours.

Mokuba forced himself to look up, to look at what changes he had brought to his bodyguard. The first thing that came to mind was that Jounouchi was so thin. His collarbones poked out of dip of the v-shaped collar of the shirt he was wearing. Jounouchi's face was still the same, just thin and worn, like he'd noticed earlier. The jawline seemed slightly different as well.

The ears were the biggest changes. Instead of the pink scalloped shaped ears that he'd had previously, there were triangular fuzzy flaps of skin that hung down on either side of the blond's head, starting just above where the ear canal had been. A layer of blond hair... or fur was starting to grow in, on top of them, but for the moment it was rather obvious and slightly disturbing to look at.

"I've got a tail too." Jounouchi commented, one of the triangular ears twitching in Mokuba's direction. "It looks like a rat's right now, but the Docs say the fur'll grow in quick. Look less weird."

"I'm sorry." Mokuba said quietly.

Jounouchi shrugged. "Dat's life. I ain't dead. Dat's a start. I'll survive."

The blond was a survivor. 'Niisama and Mokuba were still debating if it was luck or pure stubborn-minded stupidity. "I know." Mokuba agreed. Jounouchi gave him a small grin in return.

"...I'm not Yuugi." Mokuba offered hesitantly, getting accustomed to Jounouchi's new appearance. "But... if you need..."

Jounouchi looked at him for a minute, then nodded, holding his hands out. Mokuba leaned forward, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Jounouchi's too skinny torso, hoping he wasn't hurting the blond. When Jounouchi's arms when around him, holding him tightly, he figured he was doing okay.

"Danks." Jounouchi whispered, his voice low and rough again, like he was having trouble talking again. Mokuba smiled, remembering how Yuugi and Jounouchi seemed to hang off of each other most of the time, thriving off of the casual contact. Being probed like a fascinating new medical specimen was probably wearing the blond out more than anything else.

"Scoot over." Mokuba ordered, pulling back. Jounouchi hesitated for a moment, then moved over slightly, shifting under the blankets. Mokuba rolled onto the bed, grabbing the television remote and stretching out. It was a bit of a tight fit, the bed really was only designed for one, but they managed. "Catch any good daytime soaps?" He inquired as Jounouchi re-arranged the pillows behind them.

"Yer kiddin' me, right?" Jounouchi gave him a disbelieving look as he slouched down. Mokuba grinned in return, flipping through the channels as Jounouchi practically curled around him. He finally settled on one of the business channels, catching up on the current events around the world. Jounouchi made a few half-hearted growls at some of the news, his body slowly falling lax. A few commercial breaks later, the blond was out cold, snoring softly in his sleep, one arm wrapped around Mokuba.

Mokuba smiled, settling down to watch over his protector.

+++  
+++

Jounouchi looked away from the mirror in disgust. It hadn't changed since the last time he'd looked into it.

He had dog ears.

And a tail. Which is why his butt had been hurting in the hospital. It was a lot more comfortable sleeping on his side or his stomach than his back due to the sudden extension of his tailbone. He looked like one of those creatures from the horror films he hated so much. He was having a hard time looking at himself in the mirror.

Egyptian Gods he could deal with. Virtual Reality that wasn't so Virtual, he could deal with. Real Dragons and Monsters coming to life he could deal with. Himself turning into a monster took a little more work.

He sighed.

Jounouchi hadn't seen Kaiba since the ass-reaming in the hospital, but he'd been assured that he didn't need to worry about the hospital bills --he'd had a private room and doctor-- or about his job. He'd always have a job, or at least a steady paycheque from Kaiba Corporation. Kaiba Corporation looked after their own. Or if he wanted to have some sort of surgery to remove and try to correct the 'damage', it would be covered.

Only the fact remained that his DNA had been permanently altered. He could go back to looking like a human, but he'd never be fully human again. The scientists at the lab they'd been touring, once they'd gotten over the shock, had been quite thrilled, ecstatic even, over how well he survived the process, with most of his mental capabilities in check. Evidently there'd been some worry over his getting hit on the back of the head with the goop if he'd wake up a vegetable.

But the major changes in his head had been a decrease in sight, colours weren't as bright as they had been, things were more grey-tinged, but the increase in hearing and smell made up for that. He'd been informed that those might continue to shift in the future, as his body continued to adjust to the changes.

There was also a bit more of a craving for red meat, but that really didn't bother him. He was usually a bit more of a carnivore anyway.

No, what was bothering him currently was that it had been a week since he had been let out of the hospital and he was still moping over this. He was Jounouchi Katsuya, dammit, and he wasn't a quitter. He didn't hide away in his room like someone who had given up. He hadn't given up in learning Duel Monsters and he'd never given up in a duel.

Jounouchi Katsuya didn't back down from a challenge.

And that's what this was.

He rose, stretching muscles that were stiff from staying in one position too long and began to hunt for some clothes to wear. Or at least something he could poke a hole into for the tail.

It was time to stop sulking and go out and grab the Dragon by the tail.

...or however that saying went.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto was woken up out of a fairly light sleep by something heavy impacting on his bed, making the mattress jump and shake. "RISE AND SHINE BLUE EYES!!!" An ecstatic voice bellowed.

He opened his eyes in time to see a pillow fly towards his head. Without a second thought, he rolled off the bed, rising to meet his attacker. Dammit, how had someone gotten in with out his or the Mu... Jounouchi's knowledge?

Jounouchi was standing on the bed, dressed in sweatpants, grinning like a bastard, one hip shot out cockily and a pillow in hand. He knew it, the doctors had lied, the blond was clearly insane. Being altered had obviously fried the last of his few remaining brain cells.

"You've been neglecting your training." Jounouchi sing-sang, waving the pillow lazily. "Which means I've been neglecting my training."

The pillow went flying through the air, towards his face again. Seto dodged, grabbing the flying fabric. He got a twisted grin, almost a snarl --were the blond's teeth sharper? It sure looked like it-- in return, Jounouchi grabbing a second pillow and wielding it like a weapon. "Let's spar."

With a Kamikaze yell, Jounouchi came flying at him, pillow raised high above his head. Seto dodged to the side, spinning and thwacking the blond with the pillow he was holding.

"Have you lost your mental capacities?" He demanded as Jounouchi landed in a crouch, attempting to turn it into a sweep-kick that got tangled in the blankets that had fallen to the floor when Seto had rolled off. The blond had nearly -died- a few weeks ago, now this.

"Nah. No more than usual." The cheerful voice was normal sounding, scarily so. "C'mon, what are y'waiting for? You've got the advantage, I'm the one with the weird counterweight on my butt."

That almost made sense. "Very well." He agreed, swinging his own pillow down on the blond's head. Jounouchi laughed, finally freeing his leg from the blankets and rolling away and avoiding the strike.

"About time." The blond grinned, a friendly one this time. He looked good, better than the strange warped skeleton in the hospital bed. Very good. "My balance is shot ta hell. How else am I supposed ta correct it if all ya do is stand there and stare?"

He was not staring. Much. He used the distraction to toss his pillow at Jounouchi and dive across the bed for one of the other ones.

"Oh, yeah!!" Jounouchi cheered, chasing after him. "It's on now!"

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba staggered down the hall to see what all the commotion was in 'Niisama's bedroom that had woken him up. It sounded like there was some sort of fight going on, with all the shouts, thumps and thwacks echoing from there. Covering a yawn, he opened the door and peeked in.

Jounouchi and 'Niisama were in the middle what appeared to be a pillow fight. If you counted Jounouchi falling on his ass a lot and 'Niisama laughing at him.

He smiled, feeling a lot more energetic suddenly. Oh, good. They'd made up. About time things went back to normal.

Jounouchi swung a pillow at 'Niisama's feet, causing 'Niisama to jump and Jounouchi to over extend and fall on his face. "Oi." Mokuba stepped inside. "Need a hand?"

They both threw pillows at him, striking him in the head and chest, blocking his view. They slowly fell down, revealing 'Niisama and Jounouchi's snarky grins. "Okay." Mokuba picked up one of the fallen pillows. "You're -both- dead now."

Jounouchi cackled and threw another pillow at him.

+++  
+++

 

"Okay, so what we gotta do is figure out how to camouflage your ears and tail." Mokuba said thoughtfully, placing a top hat on Jounouchi's head. "-Since you decided not to try for the surgery."

"Yeah." The hat hung crookedly over one eye, so the blond pushed back on his head with a bit of a glazed look. Hurricane Mokuba was striking again. "They can't move the ear canal back down to a normal human's anyway. Better have them working and all instead of strange lumpy bits of flesh that'll make me look even more like a freak."

"Like you were ever normal." Mokuba teased with a grin that Jounouchi returned.

The blond gave Mokuba an affectionate swat, messing up the spiky hair. "Look who's talkin'."

"Heh." The smaller boy smoothed down his long hair, still grinning. "Okay, so I'm thinking hats... They'll cover your head and ears."

"Just not one of those things that Ryuuzaki wears." He shot back. "I'm not havin' anyone compare me ta him, not no way, not no how."

"No problem." Mokuba switched the top hat for a baseball cap and stepped back for a moment. "Uh, no. Definitely not."

"What?"

"Too much hair. Makes you look..." The younger boy waved a hand. "Preppy."

The hat was off Jounouchi's head and tossed across the room before either of them could blink.

"Maybe a cowboy hat." Mokuba mused as if the interlude had never happened. "Could always get a chauffeur's cap."

"Yeah, right. Just gimme one of those, a bunch of leather and a riding crop." Jounouchi snickered. "Not."

The dark-haired boy paused, a contemplative look on his face. Jounouchi blanched. "No. No, no and no. Do NOT be going there, Mokuba." He scolded. "You're -supposed- to be an innocent kid."

Mokuba shrugged, changing the subject. "Okay, so the ears are taken care of. Now about that tail..."

"I know, I know." Jounouchi gave him a rueful grin. "No more short jackets anymore." At least not ones that showed off his butt anymore.

"Too bad you're not a girl. We could stick you in a skirt!"

"No."

"Damn."

"I take back every single thing I've ever said about your brother's wardrobe being strange."

"...Spoilsport." Mokuba stuck his tongue out at him. Jounouchi ignored it. Mokuba was the one who was in charge of his brother's eclectic wardrobe. The ones with the flares and the studs and the buckles everywhere. Speaking of which....

"Have you noticed that your brother's been wearing that black arm bracer a lot lately?" Even when they were sparring or sleeping, the elder Kaiba wouldn't uncover his left forearm. It was making Jounouchi curious.

"Hmm." Mokuba agreed helpfully, his head still buried in the closet of clothing.

No help from that quarter then. Back to the original subject. "I'm not borrowin' his clothes either."

"Don't think that'd work well for you..." Mokuba walked around Jounouchi, walking over the bed Jounouchi was sitting on in the process. "You wear a lot of denim, but that doesn't work with the top hat. Maybe a pirate theme?"

"Just so long as it ain't a fancy tux coat or somethin'."

Mokuba's eyes lit up. "Hey, now that's an idea... you need something fancier anyway. We never did get around to shopping."

"No."

"Then we're back to leather."

"Ugh..."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yo, Mokuba!" Jounouchi grinned as he discovered his wayward charge's whereabouts. Mokuba was hiding in the last place Jounouchi had thought to find the sneaky little brat, in Mokuba's bedroom. "Whatcha up to?"

"Hey, Jounouchi." The dark tousled head didn't look away from his computer monitor, nor did the sound of the keyboard stop its momentum. "Programming."

"Yeah?" He leaned over Mokuba's shoulder to see the screen. Not that much of the jumble of lines and numbers made sense to him. "Programming what?"

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a nosy bastard?" The younger boy commented offhandedly.

"Frequently." Jounouchi swatted the backside of Mokuba's head. He was being obstinate. "Now give."

Mokuba shot him a glare before returning his attention to the screen. "I'm bringing Noa back to life."

"That's cool." He responded automatically. Then it hit him. Noa. Freakish virtual green-haired kid who tried to kill them all and take their bodies. Definite grudge against Kaiba Seto. "Wait! Whoa, back up. NOA?!"

"Yup."

"As in 'Tried To Kill Everyone In The Virtual World' Noa'?!"

"Yeah."

He just stared for a moment. "Does your brother know?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Duh. Got his permission to do so a long time ago."

"Oh." He couldn't quite think of anything to say to that. "Um. Good."

Silence descended, except for the tak of keys being pressed as Mokuba coded.

"Mokuba?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask why?"

"Cause he's my brother." Mokuba's answer was level. "He didn't deserve what Gozaburou did to him, isolating him like that. And us Kaiba have to stick together."

"He did try to kill us." Jounouchi had to point out.

"-And saved us in return." The younger Kaiba retorted. The stubborn look faded, replaced by one of mischievous glee. "Just think, though. He'd make a great Game Master for an interactive virtual game."

Mokuba had a point... "Be able to interact with people that way too." That seemed to be at the root of it, the isolation driving the young virtual kid insane.

"Exactly." The brat sounded way too pleased about the prospect. Jounouchi eyed him warily. He kind of understood where Mokuba was coming from, even as it worried him. Noa had shared Mokuba's body for a while too, if anyone knew what was going on in the green haired kid's brain, it'd be Mokuba.

And the duels had been pretty good too, even if he'd been distracted by worrying about Shizuka at the time.

Speaking of Shizuka, he should e-mail her, let her know he was fine. Same thing with Mai... If he went too long without contacting his 'older sister', she had a nasty habit of showing up to make sure everything was all right. After that bit with the Oricalcous cards and the Dragons, they were all a bit jumpy when someone disappeared off the radar.

At least Mai had taken to his working for Kaiba fairly well, although her comments had been on the... creative side to say the least.

"Aaaah!!!" Mokuba's yelp of terror snapped him out of his thoughts. "Tail, Jounouchi!!! TAIL!!!"

"Wha?" He glanced back, realising that his tail had been waving back and forth, smacking into things and toppling cd cases over. "Eep! Sorry!" He grabbed the wayward tail, wrapping it around one leg, wishing for not the first time that it was a little bit more flexible.

Mokuba was shooting him a dirty look. "You're a hazard to my room."

"Sorry."

The smaller boy just pointed out the door. "Until you learn to control that tail."

Right. Damn thing had a mind of it's own. Not like he could control it. But Mokuba was insanely protective of his computers, so he could understand the restriction. "Later."

"Later." Mokuba's voice was still irritated, but tempered with amusement. They'd probably get a laugh over this later.

In the meantime, he had to go find something else to entertain himself...

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto found the blond sitting in the living room, concentrating on the chessboard there. It was an incongruous scene, the bodyguard in a tee-shirt, the habitual scruffy denim jacket and jeans, with tuxedo-like tail coat and a top hat that had made its appearance several days ago perched on his head. The tail was still visible, sticking out of the back of the chair. Every so often, Jounouchi would move a piece, -correctly, Seto noted, then stare at the board some more.

He cleared his throat, bringing Jounouchi's attention towards him. "I didn't know you could play."

To his mild amazement, the tail wagged slightly, as if in greeting. "Just a bit." The blond smiled weakly. Seto wasn't entirely surprised; this was the first time they'd talked since the pillow fight last week, aside from sparring. "Yuugi's 'Jiichan taught me a while back, so we could play something other than Duel Monsters when no one was around. If you're lookin' for Mokuba, he's in his room programming stuff. I'm under strict orders to stay out of there until I learn how to control the tail."

"Ah." That would explain the exile. "Care for a game?" He offered. It had been a while since he'd played. And even then it had just been Mokuba.

Jounouchi shook his head, blond hair flying. "It'd be no contest. You're a World-class player. I'm just a beginner." A crooked grin softened the refusal. "But if you want to play something more my speed, like poker, I wouldn't say no."

"I'd wipe out your paycheque." The comment was more automatic defense than any real insult. It gave him time to think as he took the seat across the board. Poker, game of luck. Matched the other dueller's playing style.

It also triggered a recollection of something... he'd heard of it, just in passing. But it would be interesting to try. "Very well, you're on." His hands moved, automatically straightening the chessboard out, then putting away the black pieces. He had some time to kill and it would be an interesting experiment. "There should be a deck of playing cards and a rack of poker chips in the cupboard over on that wall there if you'd be so kind as to fetch them."

The blond gave him a confused look, but quickly rose and got the requested gaming pieces before resuming his seat. "So what are we doing?"

Seto smiled. "Playing to our strengths."

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba walked in on them a little bit later, Jounouchi with a handful of cards and a pile of chips next to him, 'Niisama contemplating his next move on the chessboard. He watched them silently for a moment, puzzling over their actions before speaking up. "What are you doing?"

Jounouchi grinned at him, tail happily thumping against the chair. "He's playing chess. I'm playing poker."

"Oh." The dark haired boy blinked. "Who's winning?"

'Niisama pointed. "Him currently. He just took out my queen with a straight flush."

Jounouchi snorted. "I'd be a lot farther ahead if your bishop hadn't taken out my two pair a couple of turns back."

"Nature of the game." 'Niisama dismissed it, finally moving a pawn.

Mokuba nodded and decided that was the time to back away slowly. He was beginning to think that bringing the two of them together into the same vicinity had wrought something evil.

On the other hand, it was nice to see 'Niisama relax for a change...

 

+++  
+++

 

The chimes above the door rang, echoing throughout the Kame Game Shop. "Yo." A friendly voice called.

"JOUNOUCHI-KUN!" Forgoing the usual greeting, Yuugi launched himself at his blond friend. Once again, he hadn't seen Jounouchi for well over a month and a half, although this time the blond had kept in regular contact through e-mail and phone calls. But it wasn't the same as having a living breathing Jounouchi around.

To his surprise however, Jounouchi flinched slightly as Yuugi's arms wrapped around the blond's waist, hesitating a second before returning the hug.

He opened his mouth to question if everything was okay when Honda and Otogi came running out of the back room where they had been drinking tea and talking. The two spiky haired boys tackled Jounouchi, thumping him on the back, stealing his Santa hat and patting the top of his head.

Jounouchi laughed, wrestling them back before grabbing the Santa hat back and shoving it on his head. One of Yuugi's eyebrows rose slightly. Jounouchi never wore hats.

"New look?" Otogi chortled, straightening the lapels of the flared dress coat that somewhat went with the floppy red hat. Jounouchi had his usual tee-shirt, jeans and sneakers on underneath, making for a motley outfit.

Yet for someone who worked for Kaiba, it made a certain amount of sense... At least it wasn't leather and buckles.

"Is that a dog collar?" Honda pressed, poking Jounouchi's neck. Yuugi's eyes went wide as he realised that yes, that was a dog collar around his friend's neck. With the Kaiba Corporation logo hanging from it.

Okay, -some- leather and buckles...

"It's a communicator." Jounouchi muttered as he mock-shoved the pointy haired boy off of him as Yuugi's eyebrows continued their upwards rise. Jounouchi had mentioned that he'd gotten a communicator, but he'd neglected to mention what form it was in, just that it had been accompanied by some small teasing on Kaiba's part. "And shaddup, I don't want to hear any jokes about it."

"Probably got enough of them from Kaiba when he wrestled it on you." Otogi leered playfully. "So what is your relationship with him now, Jounouchi? Rumours say you're never seen far away from Kaiba these days. He finally claim you as his pet?"

"Come off it." Jounouchi growled. "I work as a bodyguard for both him and his brother. How am I supposed ta do that if I'm not right there? Which means-" He haughtily tugged on the lapels the jacket. "-I have to dress better than -some- slobs I know."

This earned the laughter Jounouchi had probably been hoping to provoke from Otogi and Honda, but Yuugi frowned thoughtfully. Jounouchi had stated earlier that he was working for -Mokuba-, not Kaiba as well.

Something was not adding up here.

Their louder friends dragged Jounouchi into the back room to catch up, Yuugi trailing behind, watching with thoughtful eyes. Jounouchi was animated, cheerfully talking up a storm and keeping the conversation going. But he hung back a little as well, not jumping into the mock-wrestling matches with his usual abandon. He was also straying away from any friendly contact.

Alarm bells went off in Yuugi's head.

Honda and Otogi didn't seem to notice however, grinning and joking like they always did. Talk shifted around those that weren't present, Anzu who had just gotten a role in "Jewel of the Sage" in New York, not the lead, Black Magician Girl, but she was working on it. Bakura had moved to Egypt with Malik, Rishid and Isis to put his archaeology background to use to protect and record the remains of Malik's home.

Otogi talked about the latest games he was developing, inviting them to help with the beta testing. Honda was debating entering the police academy, see about being a sharp shooter. Jounouchi shared stories about various pranks he and Mokuba had played on the elder Kaiba, such as the incident with the French Maid Uniform.

But he never said anything too close, too personal. Nothing about what was actually going on.

Time passed quickly, too quickly really, and Otogi and Honda excused themselves, joking about how unlike some, they had jobs to do. Yuugi smiled sadly and waved them good-bye.

Jounouchi rose to do the same and Yuugi quickly placed himself between his blond friend and the door. His Other Self had been very good at teaching him intimidation tactics. And if need be, he could swing a mean frying pan.

The blond noticed, giving him a weak half smile. "What's up, Yuugi?" The casual attitude didn't fool him in the least, they'd been friends for way too long for that.

"Jounouchi-kun...."

Jounouchi's face fell as he eased himself back down on to his perch on the arm of a chair, looking like he was bracing himself to get scolded.

"Jounouchi-kun..." Yuugi sighed and started again. "Do I need to make some phone calls to hide the body?"

That got a startled reaction. "Huh? What?"

"Kaiba-kun." Yuugi smiled. "Do I need to make some phone calls to bury his body?"

Jounouchi laughed. It had a harsh sound to it that Yuugi wondered if Jounouchi was aware of, almost like a sob. It faded, replaced by a rueful grin as the blond fiddled with the leather collar around his neck. "No. He hasn't done anything deservin' of that."

"Not even the tail?"

For a moment, he almost wished he had a camera for the expression on Jounouchi's face. Disbelief, shock, horror, amazement. It faded into something tentative as Jounouchi reached up and took off the santa hat.

At first, it wasn't obvious that anything was different with Jounouchi's hair, other than the fact that it was long enough on the sides to hide his ears. Then his hair appeared to move slightly. With a grateful groan, Jounouchi reached up and ferociously scratched at his head, ruffling the hair up.

Two furry ears perked up from the mess of blond hair. "That's much better." Jounouchi muttered to himself, smoothing his hair back. "They were starting to cramp up from being pressed down so long."

"Oh, Jounouchi-kun..." Yuugi reached forward, tentatively reaching a hand up, his fingertips just brushing floppy triangular shaped ears. They moved, twitching slightly as they rotated from side to side. The flared coat moved, the tail thumping a friendly staccato against the chair. "Why did you hide this from m- us? Is this why you haven't stopped by in a while?"

"Yeah." The ears folded back, like a dog that had been scolded. Yuugi smiled, partly in relief. That was what had worried him the most, Jounouchi was an extremely expressive person and the lack thereof was like suddenly finding the sky was pink with plaid stripes. "Guess I shoulda known better, huh?"

"You could have told me." That hurt slightly. But he could understand it. A little bit. Like not knowing how to tell your friends that there were two of you inside of you, one who had no problems hurting people to win, or to protect him. "You're my friend, Jounouchi Katsuya. I won't turn you away. I told you. Your problems are my problems."

Jounouchi reached out, pulling him into a hug. Yuugi gratefully returned it, wrapping his arms around Jounouchi's warm bulk, almost completely engulfed by his dearest friend. "I'm sorry." Jounouchi whispered. "I was just..."

Afraid. Terrified. Scared. Worried. About them. About how they would react.

"I know." Yuugi whispered back. He also remembered how it felt when his Other Self had left, like nothing would ever be the same again. It never was the same again, it would never be the same again, but it did get better. Jounouchi had been there for him during that and now it was his turn to return the favour.

Jounouchi released him after a moment, his eyes bright. "Thanks, Yuugi."

"Any time." Yuugi smiled, reaching up to ruffle Jounouchi's hair, like Jounouchi usually did to him.

The blond smiled back, then rubbed his face, removing any traces of weakness. "How could you tell?" Jounouchi asked, his tough bravado returning.

"You kept your back to us." Yuugi explained. "But the tail was visible occasionally from the front. Especially when it wagged."

"Er, yeah." The tail thumped again. "It's kinda got a mind of it's own. But it's uncomfortable to strap it to a leg." He turned red at the comment.

Yuugi snickered. "Maybe... if you'd like... we won't tell the others just yet-?" He offered. Jounouchi was getting teased enough about being Kaiba's Dog, he didn't need their friends' cheerful comments about being Kaiba's DOG.

"Um... yeah." Jounouchi looked grateful, tail thumping against the chair again. He probably wasn't used to his new shape enough to handle that kind of teasing. "Thanks, Yuugi."

"You're welcome." Yuugi smiled faintly, leaning into Jounouchi's touch as the blond reached for him.

After all, that was what best friends were for.

+++  
+++

 

Sparing matches had changed in light of Jounouchi's... mutations.

For example, holding sparring matches outside while people wandered around and attempt to keep said anatomical anomalies hidden was generally considered Not A Good Idea.

For another thing, the damn top hat wouldn't stay on the blond’s head.

So Seto moved the matches from the gardens into the indoor exercise room. He did not care much for the place, preferring the open air of the gardens after having had a few too many up-close and personal encounters with the hard floor and walls of the closed in room when he had learnt the same martial arts he was using to spar with now. Gozaburou had believed in a strong body as well as a strong mind.

He removed the ill-used exercise equipment and padded both the walls and the floor of the now bare room with foam rubber, much to Mokuba’s bouncing, crashing delight. It still did not completely suit Seto’s tastes, but it was functional. Jounouchi didn't seem to care one way or the other. Of course, if the blond’s eyes went open more than half-mast before breakfast, it was a miracle.

That did not mean that he was helpless. Seto figured that if the pup- if Jounouchi could fight while half awake, he could fight just as well when awake.

Jounouchi had improved greatly since they had first started these sparing matches. However, he continued to keep himself a bit too open for Seto's tastes, but that was Jounouchi all around. Too open, too easily hurt.

The blond's back was wide open, so Seto grabbed the golden furry tail during a pass and gave it a tug.

A monstrous growl filled the room, sounding like either one of the Red Eyes or Blue Eyes Dragons had suddenly appeared.

Seto had just enough time to realise that he was probably not far wrong before he found himself struggling to stay upright in the face of a vicious onslaught.

Then he was flat on his back, pinned, looking up into a pair of furious brown eyes, almost reddish, and a set of fangs less than a breath space away from his face.

"I give." He croaked. The growling continued and he realised he was still staring in what could be considered a challenge. He reluctantly averted his eyes, turning his head slightly to the side, leaving his neck vulnerable in a submissive gesture. It was not a sensation he cared much for.

The growling stopped, followed by a faint puff of breath on his bare neck, and then his upper body was released. "Kaiba?" Jounouchi's usual voice asked, clearly bewildered. Seto looked back up to see the blond still straddling his hips, rubbing his lower back where the tail met spine, his face twisted in a pain filled grimace. "Ite, ite ite... my butt hurts..."

"Then don't leave yourself open like that." He growled, propping himself up on his elbows. "And get off of me!" He snapped, trying to hide his embarrassment for having been pinned so quickly.

"Sor-ry." Jounouchi grumbled, clambering off of him, still rubbing his butt. "Dammit, that hurts! What the hell did ya do?!"

"I tugged on it."

Note to self: Do Not Tug On Tail.

"Yeah, well, don't." Jounouchi grumped, and then extended a hand to help him up. The time of Jounouchi being scared of Seto because the blond had won a match were long past. Seto took the offered hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

This plan ran into a faint problem however when he realised that Jounouchi wasn't releasing his hand. Not that he had any problems with prolonged contact with the blond anymore, but it was unusual. "Jounouchi?"

The blond's gaze was fixated on his arm. His left arm, where the fabric covering his forearm had slipped, revealing a sliver of blue-silver skin.

"I thought there was something off about this." Jounouchi commented mildly as he pushed the fabric back, exposing more of the metallic skin which glimmered in the artificial light. "It's from when I got hit with that muck, isn't it? Mokuba said ya caught me."

"Yes." He agreed. Jounouchi didn't appear to be satisfied by just looking as his warm fingers slid from the soft skin of Seto’s hand to the thicker, cooler skin on his arm, the same colour and texture of a Blue Eyes White Dragon. It was like armour, Seto had once broken a paper cutter on the silver skin in a fit of anger and curiosity. The skin, if he could call it that, had remained undamaged.

He'd kept it covered not so much to hide it from the eyes of other people, but from himself. He didn't need to keep looking at it to know it was there.

Jounouchi's eyes softened and Seto snatched his arm out of the bodyguard’s grasp. "Do not apologise for it." He snapped, pulling the cover back down. Fucking pity. He hated pity. "It is not your fault."

Same as Jounouchi's transfiguration. It wasn't anyone's fault. Either that or it was both their faults; his arm retribution for being unable to prevent Jounouchi's transformation.

Jounouchi appeared to think about it. "Does it hurt?" He finally asked.

"No." Bit of the opposite really. It was a bit like having a permanent armour bracer on his arm, but it certainly did not -hurt-.

"Good." The blond casually moved back into a fighting stance, a challenge gleaming in his eyes. "So we sparrin' or not?"

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba groaned, checking his watch again. 'Niisama was late. Again. Probably was holed up behind his desk, working on some last minute detail thing that 'couldn't wait'.

Jounouchi made a disgruntled noise in his throat as well. The blond hated waiting, sitting around doing nothing as much as Mokuba did.

"Jounouchi!" Mokuba pointed up at the top of the snow covered Kaiba Corporation building, towards his brother's office. "Fetch 'Niisama!"

He meant it as a bit of a joke, something to relieve the boredom until 'Niisama came down. He was -not- expecting Jounouchi to look at him like he had just been handed the Holy Grail, grin, then rapidly scoot out of the warm car and dash towards the building, ignoring the snow and ice as if it wasn't there. "Jounouchi!" Mokuba leaned out of the still open car door, as Jounouchi disappeared inside the doors. "It was a joke! A JOKE!"

Too late, the blond was far out of hearing range. "Ooh..." He wilted, sitting back down in the seat. Teach him to say things on impulse.

A minute later, Jounouchi came back out of the building, dragging 'Niisama who was clearly struggling and arguing with the obstinate bodyguard. There was a huge grin on Jounouchi's face, as if he'd suddenly discovered his new meaning in life. A few security officers trailed after them, clearly uncertain as to what to do about their boss being kidnapped by his own bodyguard.

"Fetch!" Jounouchi cheered, tossing 'Niisama in the car before climbing in as well, closing the door behind him.

"Good boy!" Mokuba quickly pressed the 'lock' button and hit the intercom, ordering the driver to go Go GO! The car took off with a squeal of tires that knocked them all out of their seats.

'Niisama glared at both of them as he straightened his clothing, gathering his sense of dignity around him as he silently promised that he WOULD remember this. Jounouchi was unfazed as he continued to grin hyperactively, bouncing slightly in his seat, his tail swinging in happy circles.

"Well," Mokuba shrugged gamely at 'Niisama, motioning towards his happy doggish bodyguard. "He -is- part Retriever, after all."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yo, Yuugi!" The cheerful ringing of the shop's bell accompanied Jounouchi's gleeful yell, forestalling the usual welcoming shout. Yuugi poked his head out of the backroom with a grin as he spotted his blond friend brushing some snow off his long black coat.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi paused as he saw what the blond was carrying. "You've got a very big package."

"Thanks, Yuugi." Jounouchi drawled back with a broad grin and a saucy wink. Yuugi fought a blush as he smiled back. "Hold the door, wouldja?" Jounouchi requested, motioning to the storeroom door with a jerk of his head as he waved to 'Jiichan. 'Jiichan shook his head at the blond’s antics, going back to his newspaper as Jounouchi made his way into the backroom, Yuugi holding the door open for him.

"What's this for?" Yuugi questioned, poking the ribbon that was wrapped around the brightly wrapped box as Jounouchi passed by. More appropriately, -who- was it for? It wasn't his birthday.

"Merry Christmas!" Jounouchi declared, setting the box down on a mostly cleared table. Yuugi blinked, running the dates through his head and realised that Jounouchi was correct... it was Christmas Eve. ‘Kaachan had picked up the Christmas Cake earlier that day after 'Jiichan had scolded her for not having picked it up already.

He'd forgotten what day it was in the Christmas and New Year's rush to buy gifts and games for the respective holidays. And it wasn't like Christmas Eve was a holiday he looked forward to anyway, he didn't have a date to parade around the streets with to be all lovey with.

"Open it!" Jounouchi cheered, nudging the box closer to him with childish enthusiasm.

"Jounouchi-kun..." Yuugi eyed the box with a touch of trepidation. "You're not going to tell me that it's from Santa, are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Of course not." The blond made a mock-serious face at him as his coat swished back and forth from the force of the wagging tail. "Children who don't believe in Santa don't get presents from him. This one's from me!"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow at his best friend, and then stepped forward, hesitantly touching the box. He did want to know what was inside of it... With a small grin, he slowly started unwrapping the present, carefully undoing all the tape and un-creasing the folds, like he was uncovering a rare artefact.

"Yuu~gi!!!" Jounouchi practically danced at him and Yuugi finally gave in to his more immature urges and ripped off the paper, tossing handfuls up into the air in a frenzied multi-coloured cloud of paper scraps. Jounouchi whooped and cheered him on as he did so, grabbing handfuls of the falling paper out of mid-air and tossing into the air again.

"You're helping me pick those up later." Yuugi informed Jounouchi, who gave him a gleefully unrepentant look back. He paused as got to the white box, partly to savour the anticipation of the unknown, partly to draw out the suspense and annoy Jounouchi. Then Yuugi screwed his courage up and pulled off the white lid of the box.

Inside, wrapped in tissue, was a coat. It was completely black, with large cord and leather fasteners and shiny polished wood toggles. "Put it on!" Jounouchi demanded, as Yuugi pulled it out of the box, the fabric unfurling almost to the ground. "I want to make sure it fits!"

Yuugi nodded, petting the fabric for a moment and admiring the softness of it before letting Jounouchi assist him into the coat. "It's wool." Jounouchi explained as he settled the coat around Yuugi's shoulders, the hem stopping just below Yuugi's knees. "I wanted something durable that would be warm and comfortable to wear."

Yuugi caught the note of concern in Jounouchi's voice as the blond fiddled with the hood of the jacket until it lay straight. It wasn't Yuugi's height that worried Jounouchi, but how easily Yuugi tended to get cold in the winter time. He just couldn't seem to keep any fat on his body, which meant he froze in even the milder temperatures. He didn't usually go out in the wintertime because of this, although he did enjoy the occasional snowball fight.

"I can't accept this, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi said quietly, touching the wood toggles up near his throat. This was obviously not a off the peg store bought coat. Or at least not from any store Yuugi could have even dreamt of affording. "This must have cost a fortune."

"You can and you will." Jounouchi said stubbornly back at him. "What good is getting a stable paycheque if I can't use it on my friends? Besides, I'm not here to keep you warm at night anymore."

Yuugi blushed. When Jounouchi had been living with them, they used to share the bed in the winter. Jounouchi made an excellent space heater. "Yes, but..." He looked down. "This must have set you back a lot..."

To his surprise, Jounouchi laughed and patted Yuugi's head. "Don't worry about that! Trust me, this didn't set me back at all."

"Huh?"

Jounouchi shrugged. "Kaiba pays well." He said simply. "I'll give Ol' Blue Eyes that much."

Yuugi fiddled with the jacket cuff. Come to think about it, he didn't know how much Kaiba paid Jounouchi.

"Oh, that reminds me." Jounouchi reached into his own long flared coat, and pulled out a pair of dark blue smooth leather gloves. "This is from Mokuba. He says to say that it's from both him and his brother, and Kaiba didn't argue, so smile and nod, okay?"

"Okay-?" Yuugi ventured as Jounouchi handed him the gloves. Yuugi felt the smooth soft material for a moment before pulling them on. To his surprise, they fit well. Usually gloves were too large in the fingers, the extra material flopping all over the place.

"Kaiba uses this style as well. They're warm, and the leather has enough grip to hold the cards in a duel, so your hands don't freeze if you're duelling in the cold." Jounouchi gave him a slightly crooked grin. With their life, they had to consider that when buying clothing because chances were that they -would- end up duelling in the blistering snow.

Then Jounouchi pulled out a long swath of dark midnight blue fabric and draped around Yuugi's neck with a more mischievous grin. It was soft and fuzzy, made out of some sort of fine hair or fur. "And one last thing..." A pair of ear-muffs were pulled out of a pocket and plopped on Yuugi's head, his long spiky hair practically swallowing the band.

"Jounouchi-kun..." Yuugi stared at himself in amazement. He couldn't accept this!

"Don't argue." Jounouchi scolded, waving his own scarf, dark red, the colour of blood, or the eyes of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, at him. "Mokuba gave all of us a set. Kaiba's is white and Mokuba got eye-gouging orange for himself. And he was glad for the excuse. The kid's got an obsession with dressing people or something."

"I'll have to think of something appropriate to thank him with." Yuugi murmured instead. Jounouchi gave him a broad grin, patting his head.

"Good. And now that you're dressed for it, you can help me get the rest of the stuff off the motorcycle."

"The REST?!" Yuugi squeaked.

Jounouchi laughed as he steered Yuugi out to the front of the store. "It's my New Year's gifts to your family. Nothing as extravagant, I promise."

"Good." Yuugi squared his jaw as they walked back out, ignoring 'Jiichan's amused looks. "Spend your paycheque on yourself too!"

"Oh, trust me." Jounouchi's voice took on a pleased smug rumble that made Yuugi do a double take. "I am."

Okay... That was good. Right? He shouldn't worry about what kind of trouble Jounouchi was getting himself into... Right?

Right…

He pulled the jacket closer around him as they stepped outside, Yuugi's boots sinking into the snow. Jounouchi didn't seem to notice as he wandered over to a large sleek dark blue motorcycle parked on the side. Yuugi might have wondered why Jounouchi wasn't worried about it being stolen except for the prominent 'KC' logo on the side. Kaiba's name went far in Domino City.

"The company car!" Jounouchi declared gleefully, opening up one of the saddlebags on the back and pulling out a brown paper shopping bag. One thing Kaiba and Jounouchi definitely had in common, the love of going fast. "Here ya go."

Yuugi glanced into the bag, to find his curiosity thwarted by the presence of more brightly coloured paper. Dangit, he'd have to wait until the New Years before finding out what was in there. Jounouchi laughed as he pulled a second bag out of the other saddlebag. "Sweaters for your Mom and 'Jiichan, warm socks for you."

"I think I love you." Yuugi breathed. One never had enough warm socks. They always either got lost in the wash or wore out. Although sometimes he suspected that most of the ones that went missing were because 'Jiichan stole them.

And he was noticing a definite trend in the gifts. Jounouchi may not have been around as much as he had been in the past, but he was still making sure that he had Yuugi's back safe and protected. Even if it was just from the elements.

Jounouchi just grinned at him, stomping through the snow back to the shop. Yuugi followed, a grin on his own face. Jounouchi held the door open for him as they stepped inside the warmth of the shop, the bell ringing as they stomped the snow off their boots.

"Ahem." 'Jiichan cleared his throat pointedly as they paused in the doorway, giving them a significant look then glancing up.

"'Jiichan!" Yuugi gasped as he realised that his grandfather had hung a sprig of holly and mistletoe over the doorway.

'Jiichan just smiled and shrugged, his expression too innocent for the lecherous old man. "Never know when you're going to get lucky."

Jounouchi laughed. "Unfortunately for Yuugi, I'm not a pretty girl." He said with a smile, before leaning over and sweeping Yuugi up a giant bear hug, his feet swinging off the ground. Yuugi giggled as he attempted to hug his best friend back and found himself blocked by tangled of coats, limbs and bags.

Then he was released, Jounouchi steadying him as Yuugi found his balance again. "I've gotta head back to work." Jounouchi announced, handing Yuugi the bags he was carrying. "Call me about what you're doing on New Years! Later!" And with another jingle of the bell on the door, Jounouchi was gone.

"See?" 'Jiichan said smugly as Yuugi stared at the bags in a sort of dazed shock. "You never know when you're going to get lucky."

Yuugi shrugged back, shifting the bags around. Depending on your definition of ‘lucky’.

Hugs were nice, but really, he really kind of wouldn’t minded that kiss instead...

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba had been worried about Jounouchi. He'd known that the blond had been avoiding his friends since the lab incident and had been overjoyed to hear that he'd cleared the air with Yuugi.

This meant that since the New Year, the spiky-haired duellist had started coming over for what Mokuba was calling their 'Monthly Movie Night'. The three of them staying up late, eating junk food and watching movies.

It was actually turning closer to a Weekly or Bi-Weekly Movie Night, but since 'Niisama apparently hadn't caught on to that fact, they weren't going to point it out to him.

He and Yuugi were currently the only ones awake, Jounouchi had fallen asleep on the futons in front of the sofa, snoring softly. The blond's shirt had ridden up, showing his belly. Yuugi tsk'd, reaching for a blanket to cover his friend.

Mokuba had a different idea. "Wanna see a trick?"

"Trick?" Yuugi's eyebrows raised.

Mokuba giggled, sliding off the couch and lightly scratched the blond's bare belly.

"Mokuba!!" Yuugi scolded. "Jounouchi-kun is our friend! We shouldn't treat him like a..." The words trailed off as Jounouchi's leg twitched, and then began to move in time to the belly rub. "Can I try?"

"Yup!" He traded places, giggling as Yuugi tried to see how fast he could make Jounouchi's leg move. Yeah, it was probably mean to treat Jounouchi kind of like a dog sometimes, but on the other hand, Jounouchi almost seemed to invite it, if nothing else than as bravado to hide his own nervousness about his abnormality.

And it really was fun.

Yuugi eventually realised that he was rubbing his best friend's belly and stopped, blushing slightly as he guiltily pulled down Jounouchi's shirt and covered him with a blanket. Mokuba giggled.

"We should probably get some sleep tonight too." Yuugi added ruefully, hiding a yawn of his own. Mokuba almost rolled his eyes. It was like being surrounded by a pack of older brothers, really it was.

"Alright." He agreed, turning off the television and sliding off the couch. Yuugi handed him a share of pillows and blankets before stretching out on the futons along side his larger friend. Mokuba grinned sleepily, arranging the bedding until he was comfortable.

"Hey, Yuugi?" He asked sleepily.

"Yeah?"

"Want to see another trick?"

"Hmm?"

"Jounouchi." Mokuba grinned. "Fetch 'Niisama."

"Fetch!" In a blur of blond hair and pyjamas, Jounouchi was gone, dashing down the hall.

Yuugi pulled Jounouchi's blanket off of his head, where it had fallen when Jounouchi had suddenly gotten up. "What was that?"

"Jounouchi's got a hidden ability." Mokuba explained.

"Sudden speed ability?" Yuugi mused, putting the blanket back where Jounouchi had been sleeping. "No... he's always been like that around food..."

"Ack! Er, STUPID MU- JOUNOUCHI!!!" 'Niisama's shouts echoed through the corridors. Yuugi sat up straighter, eyes going wide. Mokuba smugly nestled into the blankets, secure in the knowledge that they wouldn't step on him.

Jounouchi didn't at least. Even mostly asleep, he carefully stepped over Mokuba. 'Niisama wasn't quite as quick on the uptake, being too busy trying to free his arm from Jounouchi's grasp and tripped over him, falling on to the futons.

After the first 'Fetch' incident, they'd done some checking on what was going on in the blond's skull. Evidently, 'Fetching' released endorphins in Jounouchi's brain, like eating a really orgasmic piece of chocolate on a bad day would. Jounouchi just thought it was fun.

'Niisama used Jounouchi to Fetch him on occasion too, so it balanced out. Although Jounouchi was usually faintly embarrassed when he realised that he'd just grabbed one of the brothers and run off.

"So glad you could join us." Mokuba yawned, flipping a blanket over his irritated older brother. Yuugi looked on with wide round eyes, but wisely didn't say a word.

"Mokuba!" 'Niisama growled. Jounouchi turned around in a small circle a few times, then plopped down where he had been sleeping, pulling a blanket over himself with a contented sigh. This just coincidentally happened to be on top of some of 'Niisama's limbs, conveniently trapping the elder Kaiba.

"G'night 'Niisama!" Mokuba smiled sweetly, passing his brother a pillow. "Sleep well."

Jounouchi's snoring answered him. After a moment, his brother snatched the pillow away and made himself as comfortable as possible while being partly used as a mattress.

"Pleasant dreams." Yuugi commented, smiling quickly before hiding behind Jounouchi's slumbering form.

"Not one word, Mutou." 'Niisama growled out. "Not one word to ANYONE."

Yuugi giggled in return.

+++  
+++

 

Seto glanced up as the door to his office opened, then quickly slam shut. "What?"

His chair, with him in it, quickly spun in a circle, then stopped, right where it had been, as if he hadn't been disturbed at all. "Eh?" Confusion reigned with irritation, he had work to do.

He glanced down to find a pair of rich brown eyes looking at him pleadingly from a shock of golden hair. Right Between His Legs. "Huh?!"

"I'm not here!" Jounouchi hissed. "What ever happens, I'm NOT here!"

"Jounouchi...." Seto raised an eyebrow. "-What- are you doing under my desk?" Between his legs, no less. He really should spend more time out of the office if this was where his brain was starting to go.

"Hiding from Mokuba." The top hat had been knocked off and Jounouchi's ears were laying flat against his head in a terrified posture. "Love your little brother like he were my own little brother, really I do Kaiba, and if anythin' happens, I will personally roll up the newspaper for ya ta beat me around the head and the shoulders with, but if he asks, I'm. Not. Here."

The door opened again, his brother poking his shaggy dark head in. "Hey, 'Niisama!"

"Hello, Mokuba." His brother beamed at him and Seto detected a hyper-active gleam in Mokuba's eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Jounouchi-kun around?" Mokuba asked, scanning the room.

"I do not see him here." Seto commented evenly, pointedly ignoring Jounouchi's pleading gaze from under the desk. "Do you?"

"Hmm... nope." Mokuba agreed, vibrating slightly.

"Mokuba... do I need to remind you of your promise?" He took off his computer glasses as he tried to adopt his most severe tone, which wasn't easy considering he had Jounouchi's warm presence pressed up against his legs as a very convincing distraction.

Mokuba looked guilty. "Promise?"

"Not to run Jounouchi off?" He tapped a pen against the desk. "Or do we need to find a replacement for your guard dog and reassign you back to the security officers?"

"No! No!!" That brought a panicked expression to his brother's face as Mokuba held his hands and shook his head vigorously. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere, I must have just turned a corner and accidentally lost him. I'm... just gonna go look for him now. Catch ya later, 'Niisama! Bye!"

In a blur of motion, Mokuba was back out the door and gone from the office.

"Whew." Jounouchi let out a deep sigh, his head drooping, hair brushing against Seto's inner thigh. Seto had to grit his teeth to keep from embarrassing himself right there.

He wasn't sure if he should curse or bless the fact he was wearing tight leather pants. Just how good was Jounouchi's sense of smell, anyway? They had never tested that, had they? And the olfactory systems were directly linked to the auditory systems via the sinuses, if Jounouchi's hearing had improved due to the accident, what were the chances that his sense of smell had? Could he smell Seto's arousal? From the blond's location, it would be rather hard to miss...

"Thanks, Kaiba." Jounouchi shifted, his head resting against Seto's leg as the rest of him shifted away. "Gimme half an hour and I'll be outta your hair."

How about a half hour to put his mouth to better use? All he had to do was pull that mop of golden hair closer and...

"What exactly happened?" He asked briskly.

"Someone gave Mokuba a large bag of chocolate covered espresso beans." Jounouchi yawned, sending another puff of warm air against Seto's inner thigh. Seto twitched. "Think it was one of his former baby-sitters, he was talking to a few Security guys before he got the Pixi Stix. Or was that after? Eh. Been chasin' him ever since."

"And how long ago was that?" Seto asked as the blond's head drooped tiredly.

"Hour and..." Jounouchi grabbed Seto's wrist, twisting it towards him and for a moment he wondered if the blond had heard his thoughts. Instead, Jounouchi peered at it blearily before realising that Seto didn't wear a watch. "... I dunno. While ago."

"Ah." Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Jounouchi released his arm, falling backwards and disappearing into the depths under the desk. Seto wasn't sure to bless what ever deities were out there or curse them. "S'big down here. Wake me in a half hour to Fetch Mokuba?" Came the muffled question.

Seto pushed the chair back, leaning down to watch Jounouchi curl up under the desk, almost in a fetal position, arms tucked under his head. A sleepy brown eye glanced up at him. "m'I in yer way?"

"No. You're fine." He reassured the blond. Jounouchi nodded once, then apparently fell fast asleep. Seto watched him for a moment, and then sat up, moving his chair back to its usual place. He refrained from stretching out his legs however, letting the mutt sleep.

It was funny, he hadn't realised that someone could easily fit under his desk before and not be noticed. That opened up a whole realm of possibly he'd never thought of before...

He stopped that line of thought. Employee. Jounouchi was an employee. Therefore Off Limits. Not to mention the fact that the blond was -male-, and -Jounouchi-, the mediocre duellist whom he'd been fighting with for years. Which brought up all sorts of questions about Seto's sanity, never mind the idea that he found the blond attractive at all.

He hit the intercom button for his secretary. "Send a memo to Security, please." He paused a moment, giving her a chance to switch to what ever programs she needed. He'd heard some faint grumblings about Jounouchi taking over Mokuba's protection, a few people were crying favouritism because the blond had known Seto in school, thus allowing him to 'waltz in' and take over that position.

Regardless of the fact that Jounouchi had to train before taking the position and had a better temperament for dealing with Mokuba than the griping idiots there. Which was why Jounouchi had gotten the job in the first place.

And Jounouchi worked hard at what he did. It was also difficult to picture anyone else curled up under Seto's desk fast asleep from chasing after his sugar-hyped brother, snoring slightly and trusting Seto to let him sleep.

"Ready, sir." The secretary chirped at him.

"Anyone caught giving Mokuba any caffeinated or highly sugared foods will be assigned the task of watching over him until the buzz wears off. That will be all."

"Very good, sir."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yosh!" Mokuba cheered, sliding out of his computer chair with a stretch. "C'mon, Jounouchi-kun!"

"Huh?" Jounouchi stretched as well, popping the kinks out of his back from being curled up in one position for so long. His tail made an audible pop as he moved, slightly stiff from being curled around him for so long. He'd just now gotten permission to hang out in Mokuba's lab at the Kaiba Corporation Tower while the kid was working, now that he had some control over the tail.

"You'll see." Mokuba grinned mischievously, hanging on the door playfully. Jounouchi grinned back, gamely following him. What a way to spend Valentine's Day. Ah, well. It wasn't like he had a girlfriend to give him chocolates and spend the day with. Although maybe he should give Yuugi a call, see how he was doing.

Mokuba led him out of the labs, and then got into the elevator, humming happily to himself. Instead of heading up, towards the older Kaiba's offices, Mokuba pulled a plastic card out of the locket around his neck. He tapped a panel on the elevator wall that Jounouchi hadn't noticed before, inserted the disk and tapped a few buttons.

The elevator made a whirring sound as it started going -sideways-.

"Mokuba?" Jounouchi questioned, slightly nervous at the sudden change in the formerly normal elevator. Mokuba stopped humming long enough to give him a smile, then returned back to his humming.

Right. No help there. Jounouchi sighed and decided just to go along for the ride. Mokuba was a Kaiba after all, Jounouchi would find out when Mokuba damn well felt ready and not a moment sooner. The elevator decided to change directions and started moving downwards. Or at least Jounouchi was pretty sure it was downwards, it was kind of hard to tell when one was stuck in a metal box whooshing off to who knew where.

The elevator eventually stopped, the doors opening into a dimly lit lab, one that Jounouchi hadn't seen before. It smelled fairly sterile, dust free but with the overlaid scent of electronics.

Mokuba walked into the room, still humming fearlessly, trusting Jounouchi to follow. He did so, ears twitching under the top hat, leery of surprises.

There were shadowy columns coming up from the floor at even, measured places. Hundreds perhaps. Mokuba lead him between the columns, towards the back, stopping in front of one. "Activate." He said out loud to the air. "Authorisation: Kaiba, Mokuba. ‘She sells sea shells by the sea shore’."

Machinery started up, whirring and clacking all around them. The columns started to glow with an eerie pale blue-green luminescence, shadows of figures inside.

Monsters. They were surrounded by hundreds of monsters, each one encased inside of a glowing column. "Mokuba?" Jounouchi asked, feeling decidedly twitchy and uncomfortable about this whole place. He recognised it now, he'd been down here before, a long time ago, with Honda during a series of duels to stop the RA Project and save Anzu.

There had been creepy people jumping out the columns at the time too.

"Solid Vision." Mokuba said calmly. "This is where all the monsters are created and tested before they can appear on the Duelling Platforms."

"Yeah, but-" He froze when he realised what, or who Mokuba was standing in front of.

Noa.

Mokuba was noticeably bigger than Gozaburou’s son now, even though Noa was half-curled up inside a glowing column. The green-haired boy smiled, reaching a hand out towards Mokuba. Mokuba smiled in return, their palms not quite reaching each other because of the barrier of light.

"Hey." Mokuba commented, leaning his forehead against the pillar. "Long time no see."

Noa laughed silently, mouthing something in return. The columns made the images inside appear solid, but they didn't supply sound. Mokuba laughed softly.

Mokuba had been working on this for months and finally, his hard work had paid off and he was able to see his other brother again. Jounouchi smiled sadly, turning away to give them privacy.

After his original freak out and banishment from Mokuba's room, he'd gotten some more details on what Mokuba was doing. The base where Noa had been originally stored had been destroyed, by Noa himself. But Gozaburou had a continuous back-up feed to a satellite so in case something happened to the main base there would be a copy of his son somewhere. Or most likely, a copy of himself.

The back-up feed had been damaged in the explosion, and that was what Mokuba had been repairing, deleting and removing all traces of Gozaburou as he did so.

This was the first time the code had been repaired enough for them to meet again, in a way.

Some of the other columns towards the back caught his attention, the figures inside were shaped differently than the rest. Curious he walked closer, examining them.

They were human, not Duel Monsters. There was Mai, Haga, Ryuuzaki and a bunch of other Duellists. Towards the back he spotted Anzu, Otogi, Honda, Kaiba, Mokuba and... himself.

He stopped in front of his friends in the columns, realising that they were images of his friends... what they looked like several years back.

What they had looked like during Duellist Kingdom, when he had first begun learning how to duel. When they had first met the other side of Yuugi.

Where everything had all began, really.

"'Niisama recorded everything he could during all the Tournaments." Mokuba commented quietly. "So that later, there would be an accurate copy of events. There's talk of maybe turning it into a Television show. This way there won't be any disputes about people not looking like they should."

"Ah." Kind of like photographs to remind you, only three dimensional. And possibly solid. He glanced back to see Noa smile and wave at him. He grinned and waved back. Mokuba smiled sadly as well as Noa faded from view, looking like he was heading for a nap.

"He's not completely there yet." Mokuba commented.

"He will be." Jounouchi reassured him, resting a hand on Mokuba’s shoulder. "You'll see to that."

He got a bittersweet smile in return. "Yeah."

Jounouchi cleared his throat, looking for a distraction. "So, about these Solid Vision..." He spotted himself, wearing that ancient green coat of his, the old familiar dog tags around his neck.

And wearing what was obviously a head band with dog ears on it.

Mokuba's eyes went wide. "It's not what you think! It's not what you think! 'Niisama did these before everything happened and-"

He chuckled, patting Mokuba's head to let him know there were no hard feelings. "So Ol' Blue Eyes has a sense of humour after all."

"Occasionally." Mokuba agreed. "I'm sorry, I'd forgotten he did that, I'll get it changed."

"Relax, it's not a big deal." He and Kaiba had been insulting each other for years, that wasn't going to completely change because of recent circumstances. Besides, it was fun taunting the Dragon.

He spotted Kaiba's column, with Mokuba's next to it. Just beyond that, he saw... Two Yuugi?

Jounouchi walked closer, verifying that in fact, yes, there were two Yuugi, standing next to each other. Yuugi and his Other Self. Atemu, he corrected. But the Pharaoh had been Yuugi's 'Other Self' for so long, it was still hard to think of him as 'Atemu'. "So Kaiba finally believed it, huh?"

"Yeah." Mokuba nodded. "It got through his thick skull eventually. He still doesn't like the whole Ancient Egypt Sorcery and Mysticism stuff, but he does acknowledge it."

"Good." Jounouchi patted the smooth column holding the image of the sleeping Pharaoh, dressed in leather and chains. It kind of hurt, in an odd sort of way, to see Yuugi's Other Self standing here like this. He wanted to say 'Hi', mess up his hair, talk with him like they used to. But this wasn't the real Pharaoh. The real one had already passed on, leaving a hole in their lives.

Atemu's leaving had really been the sign of the end. Everyone was still friends, but they weren't friends like they had been before. The group's cohesion, former closeness, was gone with their leader missing. "Hey, Mokuba?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't show this to Yuugi, okay?" To see his Other Self, moving and walking around but clearly not him, it would just be rubbing salt into the still healing injury.

Mokuba looked at him with eyes that were far too wise and sad for a kid. "... Yeah."

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi snickered to himself, eating an ice cream cone. This was a great idea Yuugi had. Simple and he didn't have to worry about sweating like a dog in the humid spring heat. Summer in the top hat and big coats was not something he had been looking forward to, that clothing was -hot-.

Which meant he could pick Mokuba up at the curb, instead of waiting at the car, like he'd been having to do. Double score. Good day all around.

Except for that giant Blue Eyes White Dragon suddenly appearing over the school yard.

... shit.

Enjoyment of his ice cream cone forgotten, Jounouchi sprinted for the school, vaulting over the fence around it and running towards the Blue-Silver-White source of the Dragon. Several men were running the other way and he shoved the melted broken remains of his ice cream into one of their faces as he passed and pushed another man over.

The last one wasn't on purpose, really. The guy had just been in his way, stumbling between himself and Mokuba. Then he wasn't. Simple.

There was no one within a wide radius of Mokuba, the Blue Eyes White Dragon hovering over him protectively and making sure that no one came closer. The Dragon made no sound, which was kind of eerie, one would expect something that large and pissed off looking to be growling or something.

"Yo, Mokuba!" He called. The Dragon turned his head towards Jounouchi, showing a mouthful of sharp fangs.

"Jounouchi!" Mokuba waved, looking only slightly mussed. "I'm having some problems here!"

"I noticed." The Blue Eyes shifted, clearly putting itself between himself and Mokuba. Right. Like that was going to happen. "What's going on? And skip the whole 'Goons-tried-ta-grab-me' bit."

"They didn't, they tried to grab my backpack, setting off the portable Solid System prototype." Mokuba grumbled. "And now I can't turn it off."

The Dragon roared soundlessly at him, but he was standing just out of range for it to bite him. "How solid is it?"

"Solid enough to toss one of the goons." Mokuba reported back, his voice a mixture of pride and anguish. Pride at the fact the prototype worked and anguish that he couldn't turn the damn thing off.

The Blue Eyes White Dragon shifted again and Jounouchi moved in return, keeping just out of reach. While he didn't think it could pull a Burst Stream like this, he wasn't going to be the first to find out. And despite their bulk, Blue Eyes could move damn fast.

"Have you tried-"

"I already hit the power button, attempted to disconnect the power source and removed some of the circuit boards!" Mokuba snapped.

"Didja hit it?"

The younger Kaiba blinked. "No?"

"Well, try it!" Jounouchi grinned, dodging a strike from the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Jeez, the damn thing was temperamental. Just like its biggest fan. "It always works fer me!"

Mokuba shrugged, stood up, bumped his head on the Dragon's belly, then kicked the back pack.

The Dragon flickered, then began to fade out. It thrashed in anger, but now it passed through things harmlessly. Jounouchi took the opportunity to duck past it and finally get to Mokuba. "You okay?" He asked, ruffling the kid's hair.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Mokuba waved it off, doing a brief check of the electrical components in his back pack with resigned air. "But I know I'm going to get detention for this. I'm not supposed to take stuff out of the labs to tinker on."

At the school's request, not Kaiba's. Although some members of the Kaiba Corporation stock holders fussed about their precious technology leaving highly secured premises in the back pack of an adolescent teenager, Kaiba himself really didn't give a flying flip. He still remembered how boring school had been for him. And so Mokuba bringing projects to work on to challenge himself didn't bother the elder Kaiba.

The school on the other hand, was terrified of some of the things Mokuba came up with to make, and so he was requested not to bring any of the 'dangerous' things Kaiba Corporation created onto school premises.

Personally, Jounouchi thought it was because the school board wasn't a fan of Duel Monsters. Evidently some of them had been terrified by the whole 'monsters on the streets' thing during Battle City.

"Not if we run fast enough." Jounouchi declared, grabbing the back pack in one hand and Mokuba's wrist in the other. "C'mon!"

Mokuba let out a breathless laugh as they ran out of the gates and down the sidewalk to where the limo was waiting. People scattered at their advance, no doubt having seen the demonstration in the school yard and not wanting to end up horribly splatted or some such.

The limo driver saw them coming and hit the button for the back door to open. It didn't open up fast enough for them to get in comfortably, but they squeezed through, Jounouchi pulling the door shut after them. "Go!" Mokuba cheered at the driver, bouncing happily.

Thankfully, and almost gleefully, the driver did so, quickly leaving the school behind. Jounouchi sometimes got the feeling that Mokuba's driver wanted to be an Indy sports car racer in a previous job, but hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask. Mokuba sprawled out on one of the limo's seats with a contented sigh. "It's Friday."

"So it is." Jounouchi grinned. Yay, weekend. Maybe they could actually get a chance to sleep in.

Mokuba suddenly sat up right, peering at him. "Nice outfit!" He grinned, pulling the sunglasses off of Jounouchi's head. His ears, freed from the glasses acting as sort of a head band to keep them pressed down and hidden, popped up. "Good disguise too. And it stayed on while you were fighting."

"Yeah, it was Yuugi's idea." Jounouchi grinned, tugging at the long sleeved shirt tied around his waist. It was partially buttoned up, the tail hiding on the inside of it. It was kind of uncomfortable, the fabric bunching up at the base of his tail was a pain, but it worked as effective camouflage. And as Mokuba pointed out, it worked while he was fighting.

Even if it did make him look like some sort of surfer bum. Yuugi had insisted he wear some of his old leather bracers buckled around his wrists to match the leather collar, to give him a more menacing look, but Jounouchi still thought he looked kind of silly, not at all like a threatening bodyguard.

"Have to thank him for it." Mokuba grinned, handing him his glasses back. "And hey, you can wear it while we're in America!"

Jounouchi did a double take. "AMERICA?!"

+++  
+++

 

"I don't wanna go." Mokuba rolled his eyes as Jounouchi whinged. "Why do we have to go again?"

"Because 'Niisama is dealing with Pegasus' old company, Industrial Illusions." He reminded his sulking bodyguard. "And therefore needs all the moral support he can get."

Jounouchi grumbled and made a muttered comment that sounded suspiciously like offering to shove something sharp and pointy into Pegasus' genitalia. Mokuba couldn't completely argue with the view point. Pegasus, even though long dead, was still flamboyantly scary.

And he still had the occasional nightmare from being trapped in a card by the silver haired bastard. Small dark enclosed spaces still gave him the creeps too.

"I don't want to go either." Mokuba continued, fumbling in his reflection with the bow tie around his neck. He'd prefer one of the pre-made ones, that he just had to clip on and adjust, but he was a Kaiba and Kaiba had certain standards to uphold. Or something like that. "Getting my cheeks pinched cause I'm younger and the muttered comments about 'if my brother's so rich, he should be able to afford a decent haircut for me'." He mimicked, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

Jounouchi stopped whinging, just stopped and looked at him like he'd never seen Mokuba before. The expression quickly faded into a more thoughtful one. "I've got an idea... what if we braided your hair?"

"Braid?" Mokuba blinked. He'd never given any thought to actually doing something with his hair, it was just always there.

"Yeah. Hold on..." The blond wandered off, rummaging around in one of the hotel's desk drawers. It wasn't so much a hotel room as it was a suite in on one of Industrial Illusions' holdings. Two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Supposedly it was private, but they weren't taking that for granted either. "Ha!" Jounouchi gave a triumphant cry, holding up a small rubber band left in the desk.

Mokuba gave the small object a wary look. "What?"

"If we braid your hair back, people'll think you cut it, right? Until they see the tail in the back." Jounouchi explained cheerfully. "And then it's okay, cause it's all groomed and stuff, right?"

Made sense, in a twisted sort of way. "...Right." He agreed slowly. He got a beaming grin in return as Jounouchi motioned for him to turn around. He did so, tensely waiting for the blond to start attempting to pull his hair from his scalp.

Jounouchi didn't. Instead, the blond ran his fingers through it for a moment, then divided it up into sections at the base of his skull with gentle fingers. "It's been years since I did this." Jounouchi muttered, warning him. In the reflection of the mirror, Mokuba could see the blond's brows coming down in a mask of concentration.

"Where'd you learn to braid hair anyway?" Mokuba asked, the tie fumbling in his fingers again. Stupid bow.

There was a slight pause as Jounouchi took out what he had done and restarted the braid, being careful not to pull hair. Perhaps overly cautious not to pull hair, but Mokuba wasn't going to complain about that. "My sister." Jounouchi finally commented. "When we were little, she sometimes needed help with her hair when Mom and Pops weren't around. So 'Oniichan' came to the rescue." The voice was caring and fond, a rare combination from the usually high strung bodyguard.

Mokuba had almost forgotten Jounouchi had a sister too. The Duellist Kingdom... He'd tried to win to get the money to fix his sister eyes. Which he had.

Then the first thing she'd seen once her eyes worked was the aftermath of her brother shaking off the mind-control effects of Malik's Sennen Rod and fighting his best friend. And almost sacrificing his life for his best friend as well.

Well, at least Jounouchi had come out a hero at the end of it. In his sister's eyes anyway.

"Don't blame me if this is a mess." The blond added darkly.

"No problem." Mokuba smirked back. "I'm sure most people will think I did it myself anyway."

Jounouchi made a scoffing sound, most if his concentration on what his hands were doing. "Was wondering... is there a reason you keep your hair so long anyway? I don't think I've ever seen it short, even in photos."

"Actually..." Mokuba cleared his throat, restarting the knot again. "Yeah. Kinda." He trailed off. No one had actually -asked- him about his hair, just taking it as part of who he was. Which it was. Jounouchi was silent as he focused on braiding Mokuba's hair, for which Mokuba was grateful for as it gave him a chance to gather his thoughts.

"Evidently, I look a lot like our Mom. I've been told that she had long hair too, but I don't know. She died giving birth to me." He started, carefully keeping his attention on the bow he was attempting to tie. "So Dad let my hair stay long. I was supposed to get it cut the day after he died in a car crash. After that, I wouldn't let anyone touch it, except 'Niisama, even if most people thought I was a girl."

'Niisama had his hands full at the orphanage, taking care of him there. Yeah, he'd been bullied, but there had also been a few people had wanted to adopt him, -because- they thought he was a cute helpless little girl. Ugh.

'Niisama hadn't let them. Then had come Gozaburou.

"Gozaburou didn't care what I looked like, as long as I kept quiet and stayed out of the way. Then he died-" 'Died' was as good of a term as any really. "-And 'Niisama's never commented one way or another. I get it trimmed every so often, but it just stays long." Easier to take care of too, he didn't have to get it cut or styled constantly.

"And it marks me as different from the rest of those rich snobs." He added with a malicious grin.

That got the chuckle he'd been hoping for from Jounouchi. "That's for sure." The blond finished the braid, wrapping the rubber band he'd found around the end of it. "Shake your head, see how that feels."

The weight of it was odd, he wasn't used to having it tied back like that, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "Works." He finally announced. The bow finally figured itself out. It was a little crooked, but he didn't care. "You ready to go?"

"Yup." Jounouchi patted the headphones and microphone that kept his ears pressed down, camouflaged in his shaggy hair. "As ready as I'm gonna be anyway." He added soulfully.

Mokuba laughed, turning towards the door. As he did, he noticed a flash of colour in the door way. 'Niisama, with a sad sort of expression on his face. "'Niisama?" He called.

"Just waiting for you." 'Niisama's voice was even, almost bored. There wasn't any trace of sadness or any other emotion on his face when Mokuba got a good look at him.

Right. Mokuba knew that trick. He'd get it out of 'Niisama later.

"Hey!" Jounouchi frowned, looking between the three of them with an almost comical angry expression on his face. "You did this on purpose, didn't you, Mokuba!?"

It took a moment for him to change tracks enough to realise what the blond was talking about. It was a black suit / black tie affair, but they had added their own personal 'Kaiba' touches to their clothing.

'Niisama's coat was his usual coat style, flared out to the sides and down to his ankles. Because of Jounouchi's tail, his coat went past his knees, the tail tucked inside of it. And Mokuba, the shortest of the group, was wearing a coat just a little longer than the usual tuxedo style. He couldn't get it to flare out dramatically though.

He still had no idea how Yuugi's Other Self did that...

"I didn't do a thing!" He protested, grinning. He hadn't planned it, but it wasn't like anyone was going to -believe- that he hadn't.

Which could be a very very good thing. "-And we'd better go, we're gonna be late!" He laughed, racing out of their suite. Behind him, Jounouchi and 'Niisama made various polite comments to each other about strangling him in his sleep.

It was always nice to see them agreeing on something. Even if it was his eventual demise.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi felt his ears go back as soon as he walked in the room, even with the band pressing them against his skull. Too close of a space with too many people wearing too many strong scents giving each other too smug looks. It was like being tossed into a pool of sharks with only a rubber duckie to keep you afloat. A faint whimper escaped his throat as he took a small step closer to Kaiba.

"You okay?" Kaiba whispered, looking around as if he owned the place.

No. No he wasn't. He wanted -out- of there.

"Sure." His voice didn't wobble, he was proud of that small detail. Mokuba brushed against him in a move that probably looked accidental to everyone else, but reminded him that he wasn't alone here. And he had a job to do. He was here to protect Mokuba.

Mokuba had brought a small metal briefcase along with him, with communications and a laptop inside. Every time the Kaiba brothers went to America, it seemed that someone tried to take over Kaiba Corporation. Mokuba's self-appointed job was to keep anyone from even partially succeeding in that goal.

He squared his shoulders, looking around for a good place for Mokuba to set up his little shop. Kaiba smirked slightly at that, but let it go. Yes, yes, good puppy. Jounouchi knew the drill.

"Jou!" A feminine voice squealed, distracting him from his worries. He turned to see a mass of long blond hair suddenly fill his field of vision, a variety of perfumed scents assaulting his nose and making him slightly dizzy. "Fancy running into you here!"

"Mai?" Yup, it was Mai. He'd recognise that corseted cleavage anywhere.

Except... she usually didn't -drape- her self over him like this. He was pretty much the only thing keeping her up right. She giggled and he could smell some wine on her breath. It was faint, not enough to cause her to act completely tipsy.

He straightened suddenly as her hands made themselves known... on his butt. "Uh... Mai?!" Not good, not good not good. If her hands kept roaming like that, she'd be sure to find something back there that normally didn't belong... namely his tail and he really didn't want to have to explain that one to her, because she'd go after Kaiba's throat no matter what he said.

Mokuba made a noise suspiciously like a snicker and a glance over at the older Kaiba showed no help from that quarter. Kaiba looked about ready to break someone's arms off and Jounouchi wasn't quite sure whose. "I think you need some air..." He quickly decided, attempting to sound like the bodyguard he was supposed to be. "Mokuba-sama, why don't you join us, there should be some seats out on the balcony for you to set up on."

"Okay!" Was the too-cheerful helpful response. He winced and quickly made his way to the back of the room, half carrying Mai as he did so. Not exactly graceful, but it worked without actually tossing her over a shoulder or something equally barbarianish.

The fresh air was blessedly soothing to his senses as soon as he got the door open. He did a quick scan of the area, found it devoid of human life and motioned Mokuba out. Mokuba scurried out, a smirk firmly planted on his face. Jounouchi growled back at him, shutting the door behind them. As he had predicted, there was a fancy small table with some chairs around it waiting for them, a convenient place to do business. Mokuba set the briefcase down on top of the table as he deposited Mai down in one of the chairs.

"Oh, finally!" She exclaimed, tossing her hair back as she relaxed into the chair like a queen settling into her throne. "Thanks for the save, Katsuya. I thought I'd never make a clean escape! Hey, Mokuba!" She waved cheerfully at the dark haired boy.

"Hey, Mai." Mokuba distractedly waved back, his attention on the laptop. "How ya doing?"

"Pretty good. I'd be better if some asswipe hadn't tried spiking my drink." She sulked, straightening her clothing. "Thought I was going to have to bumble around like that for a while longer before I could escape."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. Nice to know she hadn't changed. "Always glad to be of service."

She smiled sweetly at him in return, patting his cheek in an 'oh, aren't you cute' gesture. "But it gives us a change to catch up, Jounouchi-kun." She smirked, fluttering her eyelashes. "So, what's new in your life?"

Jounouchi grimaced as he took his own seat. Talk about your loaded questions...

 

+++  
+++

 

The first thing Seto did upon entering their 'suite' was check on Mokuba. Not that he didn't trust the blond, but because it was reassuring to him. He'd been looking after Mokuba for so long it was second habit to make sure he was safe. He was, the laptop monitoring Kaiba Corporation laying open next to his pillow on the bed.

That said, he went looking for Jounouchi. The blond wasn't in the room's other twin bed, nor was he in Seto's bedroom. The bathrooms were empty, as were the kitchen and the main rooms.

A breeze from the balcony doors drew his attention. The weather in Las Vegas held a certain dry dusty quality to it, no matter what season it was. As predicted, he found the blond leaning over the balcony, wearing a bathrobe and a towel over his head, a beatific expression on his face. "Jounouchi?" He questioned.

"Shhhh..." The blond shushed him quietly, the peaceful expression never fading from his face. Seto noticed he was holding something. Curious, he stepped closer, peering at what it could be. He didn't have much time to figure out what it was other than round before Jounouchi released it with a positively blissful look.

A small splash and screams followed.

More screams followed as the premises' security guards chased after the owners of the first screams. "Ahh." Jounouchi smiled, standing up and stretching, obviously extremely pleased with himself. "I've been coaxing those two close enough to get in range for a while now. Hey, Kaiba. What's up?"

"Water balloons?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh... not quite." The blond laughed nervously, the previously contented expression fading into one of embarrassment. "We... had a little incident with the media after we got back here."

"Oh?"

"They kinda tried to break down the door." Jounouchi continued, carefully -not- looking in Kaiba's direction. "I was sorta in the shower, washin' off the wine Mai spilled on me, so if there's footage of me in a couple of towels lookin' really panicked as people shove stuff in my face, ya know where it came from."

-That- was distinctly unfair. He hadn't gotten to see the blond wearing nothing more than a couple of towels, a few yokels wielding cameras should not have that privilege before he did.

"Mokuba and I got the door shut, mostly by slappin' people's limbs and threatenin' them with the idea of huntin' them down with a baseball bat tomorrow," The blond looked like he -really- relished that idea. "But they got really persistent and tried staking out under the windows. Mokuba found a strip of packaged condoms that someone had oh-so-helpfully left in the night-stand next to your bed, a couple of mock-water balloons later and we didn't have such a big problem with them. Oh, the shaving cream ones were all your brother's idea. He's a good sneaky kid."

He got a little mentally side-tracked at 'condoms' and 'your bed', so it took a moment for the rest of the information to sink in.

"What were the reporters after?" He questioned, trying to keep his tone icy not entirely confident about it.

"Uh.." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head, moving the towel draped over his blond hair to hide the ears. "You'd have ta ask Mokuba, really. My English is really rusty. Only my second time in the country, y'know."

The first time being the mess with the Dragons and Dartz and then staying for the KC Grand Prix. That however did not explain the fact that Jounouchi was doing an obviously bad job at attempting to lie.

He raised an eyebrow and waited. Silence seemed to work much better on the blond than words. Jounouchi let his hand drop, still not looking at him. "Mokuba said that they wanted ta know what yer relationship with me was."

"Not your relationship with me?" One did not mean the other, after all. The barbed comment was meant as a half-joke, but to his surprise however, it looked like the blond blushed at it.

"That too."

"Ah."

His fault. Both times Jounouchi had talked to him at the party, he'd leaned towards the blond to talk. A subordinate stood behind their boss and talked, the boss pretending that they weren't there. By leaning towards the blond, he'd acknowledged him, silently stating he recognised the blond as someone important to him.

And they'd all entered side by side, not with Jounouchi trailing behind like a good bodyguard. A minor slip, but even a minor slip was enough of an opening for those who weren't so fond of him.

He'd deal with it later. And by their questions, no one had yet to put two and two together to figure out that Jounouchi was also a Duellist, like him.

"So how were things with Kujaku?" He asked instead, leaning on the balcony railing. He ignored the nagging voice in his head that a Kaiba Did Not Lean. On anyone or anything.

He was a Kaiba.

It seemed that he was doing a lot of things that a Kaiba did not do lately.

And there were quite a few broken condoms on the ground beneath the window, pale against the darker ground. They made quite an interesting speckle patter.

Just how many condoms had been in that drawer?

"Mai's good." Jounouchi picked up a glass that was resting on a chair next to the railing, next to several more condom water balloons. Jounouchi took a sip of the sparkling clear liquid before leaning on the railing as well. "She wasn't nearly as drunk as she was acting, by the way. Someone tried slipping her a mickey, so she was acting that way ta get outta there."

And groping Jounouchi's ass in the process. He remembered the icy flush of possessiveness he'd felt at someone else groping HIS...

...well. Never mind.

"You and Kujaku seem... close." He attempted to derail that train of thought as well. He was not jealous. He wasn't.

"Mai and I have a very complex relationship." Jounouchi agreed, raising the glass in a mock salute. "I remind her of herself when she was younger. So she lectures me and in exchange, I don't pull the same stupid shit she did. Probably one of the most stable relationships I've ever had."

"I see."

"Besides, she just broke up with Anzu." Jounouchi grinned, taking another sip of the fizzing drink. "Needed a friend to catch up with old times with. Got the latest gossip on everyone and anyone I never cared about and a few I did."

"Ah." Seto nodded absently, then quickly mentally back tracked. "Broke up with Mazaki?!"

"Yeah." The blond finally turned and looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face. Then it cleared and Jounouchi nodded, looking contemplative. "That's right, you stay out of the gossip circles. Mai and Anzu were doin' the whole long distance relationship thing fer a while, but the they're both career-driven, so they broke it off. They're still friends and all, just not 'with benefits' anymore."

Kujaku Mai and the overly perky Mazaki Anzu?! In bed?! Together?! The mind boggled. "I see."

Jounouchi chuckled and Seto wasn't completely sure if it was from his confusion or something else. "Anzu's starting to make a name for herself in New York and Mai's out on the Duelling circuits, still getting engagement offers from random people and faking people out thinking she's psychic. Sometimes I think the main reason why we're friends is because I was the first person to realise her cards are scent coded. My nose was good even before I got all doggish."

Seto tensed at that. "... I see."

Ohhh, shiiiiit...

Jounouchi gave him a strange look and held out the glass he was drinking, misinterpreting the reason behind Seto's discomfort. Seto shook his head, passing on the silent offer of the drink. "It's just club soda." Jounouchi shrugged, taking a sip. "The shirt's currently soaking in some of it. It's supposed to get red wine stains out."

Of course, they could simply get a new shirt to replace the wine soaked one, but that probably hadn't crossed the blond's mind, except perhaps as a last resort.

"Anyway, Mai's here to make sure everyone plays nice." Jounouchi continued easily, apparently oblivious to Seto's ponderings. "She used ta work on a Cruise Liner, dealing cards. Knows all the dirty tricks in the book and then some, so she's real good at spotting when someone's cheating."

Which might be a useful skill for someone at the Duel Academia to have. Especially with the package of information he'd received from Mutou Sugoroku's old friend, the Paleontologist Arthur Hopkins earlier today. He made a mental note to offer either a teaching job or place as a lecturer to Kujaku.

"Actually, you should have come out and joined us. Mai was telling Mokuba some of the dirty tricks you can pull as a dealer, then the two of them started discussing dealing with long hair. It was real funny, but probably better than gettin' hair tips from Otogi."

"Agreed." The femme dice boy didn't have much room to talk when it came to 'style'. "Speaking of Otogi, he's been quiet lately."

"That's cause he's too busy shacking up with Honda to cause mayhem." Jounouchi was so casual about that tidbit of information that it also took a moment to process.

"I had thought that they were chasing after your sister." At least they had been during Battle City, to his vague recall. He'd noticed it in passing, it had kept them out of his hair. Or screaming in his face, depending on what was going on at the time.

"Shizuka?" Jounouchi grinned. "Nah. She's had a crush on Mai ever since they met. But Mai's almost ten years older than her, so Mai's been playing it cool. She asked tonight if I was okay with the possibility of dating Shizuka in the future though." He took another sip of the club soda.

"And are you all right with this?" Seto questioned. Jounouchi had gotten defensive about anyone getting too close to his sister, he remembered. Much the same how he acted around someone attempting to pull something around Mokuba, which is why Seto had allowed the possibility of the blond being Mokuba's bodyguard in the beginning.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jounouchi looked honestly confused. "Mai'll treat her a hell of a lot better than Otogi or Honda would. Not that they're bad guys or anything, just not good enough for my sister." The blond grinned, looking fond, a similar expression to the one he'd had when braiding Mokuba's hair earlier that night.

Seto had been in a bit of a temper when they left the suite, feeling guilty of all things. Mokuba had always depended on -Seto- all of his life and now suddenly there was someone else that Mokuba was turning to for help. It should have been him, not Jounouchi, Mokuba talked to about people making comments about his hair to. It should have been Seto to come up with a solution for it. Never mind that he hadn't the foggiest idea how to deal with long hair, much less braid it.

The feelings were irrational, they had hired Jounouchi to watch over Mokuba, he shouldn't be annoyed when the plan worked a little too well to his liking. Mokuba would undoubtedly scold him for being jealous later.

"Sometimes I think the only reason why I remember that I have a first name is because she always addresses the letters to me using it." Jounouchi was commenting, that fond expression still on his face. "Everyone else calls me by my family name."

"Ah..." And for the life of him, he couldn't remember what Jounouchi's given name was. It wasn't 'Mutt'...

Jounouchi chuckled, amused. "Don't strain your brain. It's 'Katsuya'."

A Dog named 'Kat'. How Ironic. "Ah." He filed that away for future reference.

"Oh, hey. You'll never guess who shacked up together." Jounouchi straightened, changing the subject again with a grin. "Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki evidently figured out that they'd never get laid by anyone else, so they hooked up, got an apartment together and went back to school. Looks like they're studying to specialise in pre-historic fossilised insects, combining their interests."

Haga and Ryuuzaki? The mind boggled. "Are all the ranking Duellist gay?" He questioned. He'd heard that Bakura and Malik had run off together, now all this...

One of Jounouchi's eyebrow's lifted as the blond subtly shifted for either fight or flight. "Is it a problem?"

"No." Seto shook his head, running a hand through the fringe that fell over his eyes. "Just a bit of a surprise. I've honestly never given it much thought." Although considering that a great deal of Tournament Duellists were about the age of consent, he should probably start to re-consider sleeping arrangements for future Tournaments. Last thing he needed was some sort of lawsuit because of hormones.

Or maybe they could see about attracting more girls into the tournaments. The ratio of female players to male was abysmally low. If they could increase the number of girls, they might also increase the number of players and spectators as well, to ogle the girls.

And hadn't he read somewhere that many girls were fans of guys getting it on? Yaoi, or something. That might be a draw for some as well.

Actually, considering the amount of tight clothing and leather worn at tournaments, it was a bit of a surprise that he hadn't noticed it before. He made a note to look into that angle of marketing.

"Ah." Jounouchi relaxed again, leaning on the railing once more. "Otogi's never made a secret of it really, think he was just fighting over Shizuka with Honda because he could get some good gropes in. I don't think Honda cares one way or another as long as the relationship is stable, Mai's bi and selective about her dates, Anzu's off living her dream and doesn't have time for much else for anymore. And like I said, there was no way Ryuuzaki and Haga were gonna get laid any other way."

All very good points. "I thought Anzu had a crush on Yuugi." She certainly acted like it around Rebecca Hopkins during the KC Grand Prix Tournament.

"She had a crush on the Pharaoh, not Yuugi." Jounouchi corrected. "And when Atemu left, things got kind of awkward between them. Yuugi had a crush on her before he solved the puzzle, but stopped because she liked his other half. Then she went to New York and..." He trailed off with a shrug.

Seto nodded, not able to think of anything to say. He looked up at the stars, faded from the glow of Sin City behind them.

"I don't think Yuugi's ever gonna date anyone." Jounouchi commented softly, fiddling with the nearly empty glass. "He found a missing piece of his soul. He was happy like that, despite how chaotic everything was. When his Other Self left, he was stronger then when they'd first found each other, but it left a big hole in him too. And I don't know if he's ever quite going to recover from that."

Made a certain amount of sense. None of the others with Sennen objects had seemed quite so intimate with their other personalities. Yuugi had been intensely close friends with his.

What was that phrase? I may be Schizophrenic, but at least I have each other-?

"What about you?" Seto questioned, realising that the blond had pointedly left himself out of the equations.

Jounouchi looked surprised. "What about me?"

"You left yourself out."

"Oh." Jounouchi drained the last of the liquid from the cup. A delaying tactic if Seto had ever seen one. "I figure I'm out of the running anymore too." Jounouchi commented, setting the glass down with what sounded like a very final sounding 'clink'. He stood up again, looking up at the stars.

"Other than the Docs, only three people know my abnormalities. You, Mokuba and Yuugi. Yuugi, I figure we'll be grumpy old men together. Best friends for life and all that. Mokuba's a kid brother I never had. And well..." Jounouchi shrugged, giving him a smile that was both sweet and sad. "We're not exactly friends, are we?"

It was probably the biggest shock of the night to realise that despite having lived with the blond for quite some time now, this was probably the first decent conversation they'd ever had.

"Anyway. I'm off ta bed." The blond yawned, raising his arms above his head in a stretch. "Night, Kaiba. Thanks fer lettin' me chatter at you."

"It was my privilege." Seto nodded back, allowing the blond to pass, silently surprised that he meant the words. "Good Night."

Jounouchi nodded at him as he passed, then hesitated at the sliding door. "Um... do you think you'll need-?" The blond fidgeted slightly, obviously torn.

It took a moment to realise that the blond was asking if he needed company tonight, because of nightmares. "No." He waved it off. "I'll be fine. Thank you, Jounouchi."

"No prob." The blond gave him quick grin, letting him know he was all right. "See ya in the morning."

"In the morning." He agreed. Jounouchi wandered back to the room he was sharing with Mokuba with another yawn.

Seto stayed out on the balcony for a little longer, watching the stars. There was some rustlings in bushes below. He glanced around and spotted the pile of water filled condoms and picked one up. He weighted it in his hand for a moment, then released it over the edge of the balcony.

Screams followed.

Feeling strangely satisfied, he went back inside, locked the balcony door behind him and went to bed, expecting to fall asleep immediately like he usually did after a long day.

He didn't.

The bed felt strangely large and empty.

 

+++  
+++

 

Stupid stupid stupid Kaiba, Jounouchi growled to himself as he stormed out of the shower, rubbing a damp towel of the shaggy mess of hair the covered his head. He paused and mentally re-wrote the comment to include the words 'jerk', 'ratface' and 'bastard' in there too.

Stupid Kaiba had woken him up at an UNGODLY hour of the morning, ungodly even if they hadn't been up late chasing the media, to spar.

Jounouchi figured something must have pissed off Ol' Blue Eyes after he went to sleep because the elder Kaiba appeared to be in some sort of snit. Or at least intently focused on creeping the hell out of Jounouchi, cause not only did Ol' Blue Eyes want to spar, he wanted to spar -outside-, in front of the -media-, without shirts.

Okay, maybe not the last part. Jounouchi had been wearing his gi, he'd slipped his arms out of the sleeves, hiding his tail and tying a plain white hachimaki over his forehead, pinning his ears and prayed that no one had a zoom lens. Kaiba had responded by taking off his shirt, which was weird cause Kaiba -never- took off his shirt. But with the dark sweatpants and the black bracers on his arms and his own black hachimaki over his forehead, they kind of matched in a Yin-Yang, 'Light and Dark' sort of way.

He'd thought that was vaguely amusing until Kaiba informed him that they were practising pins and holds today. When he'd glanced at the people with cameras hidden on the other side of the fence, the bastard had smirked and commented that as Mokuba's bodyguard, Jounouchi should get more pins than Kaiba.

He had too. But both of them were going to have bruises for days for practising on asphalt without any sort of padding. And this was probably going to end up on news too, the bastard. Or the very least, the tabloids.

Geh. Shizuka read the tabloids. He was going to get an earful for this.

He tossed the towel down in disgust, grateful that Mokuba was still in the kitchen, so he didn't have to mute his grumbling. Last thing he wanted to do was pit the brothers against each other, even accidentally. The only one who would lose from that would be him.

And dammit, he had begun to think that he and Kaiba were possibly, POSSIBLY starting to get along a little better. Yeah, right.

Just as he was reaching into his suitcase to pull out clothing, he noticed something on his bed. A neatly folded pile of blue and white clothing. Curious, he picked it up the top item and unfolded it.

It was a white baseball jersey, bold blue lettering across the chest proclaiming 'Dragons'. Under that was a baseball shirt with blue sleeves, a matching baseball cap and at the very bottom, a genuine wood Louisville Slugger.

Jounouchi plopped the baseball cap backwards on his head, checking the heft and the weight of the baseball bat and grinned. Oh, yeah. Just right for pounding paparazzi.

Some days, Jounouchi just LOVED working for Kaiba Corporation.

 

+++  
+++

 

The conversation was going no where fast. The meeting was going no where fast.

Seto was losing his temper fast.

In direct comparison, Tenma Gekkou, Pegasus' heir, kept smiling blandly at him as if all of this could be solved over a nice cup of tea. Seto really really REALLY wanted to wipe that mild expression off the pale haired bastard's face.

And if he was told to 'calm down' and that they could 'solve this like reasonable adults and/or businessmen' one more time he was going to... Well, he didn't know what he was going to do, but it was going to be violent, bloody and messy. Very, very messy.

The conference room door opened with a loud bang, causing both of them to startle. It was Jounouchi, quite literally kicking the door down, much to the shock and horror of the security officers behind him. The blond was dressed in the baseball clothing Seto had left for him, grinning broadly in a maniacal sort of way, a large submarine sandwich slung over one shoulder, the baseball bat tucked under the other arm.

"LUNCH TIME!" Jounouchi cheered, slamming the sandwich down on the tabletop between Seto and Tenma. He gave them both a wide grin that showed -way- too many sharp teeth. "Eat. Or else."

And with that merry message, he sauntered out of the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Tenma blinked theatrically, his expression changing for the first time, into one of startled shock. "Your wife is incredibly bossy, isn't he?"

Seto thought about it for a moment. He should argue that Jounouchi wasn't his wife. He should argue that Jounouchi wasn't his anything at all, much less his. He should get angry, rise to the bait and simply argue, really.

But he was tired of trying to play Tenma's games, he was tired of getting nowhere and he was simply tired and wanted to go home.

Perhaps a change of tactics was called for.

"Yes, he is." He agreed mildly unwrapping the sandwich. As he had thought, it was conveniently pre-cut into sections ready to eat. "Sandwich?"

Tenma looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then agreed.

Things progressed much more smoothly after that.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi's mobile phone went off.

Yuugi sighed. Currently, Jounouchi was fast asleep, his head on Yuugi's lap. The blond had wandered in a few hours ago, talking animatedly about their recent trip to America.

That had lasted only a short amount of time before the blond had begun to drift off, hence their current position. The Kaiba Corporation plane had arrived in Domino early this morning in time to drop Mokuba off to school and Jounouchi hadn't slept since Vegas.

If anyone were to walk in on them, they'd probably get the wrong idea. Traditionally, lending someone your lap was an intimate act, something reserved for married or dating couples. But Jounouchi had always been there for him, ready with a hug or a shoulder to cry on or anything else he needed. Lending a lap to sleep on was the least he could do in return. It wasn't romantic intimacy, it was just the way their friendship worked.

However, reaching into Jounouchi's pants pocket to retrieve his mobile phone, THAT was intimate. He blushed as he did so. Only two people, Kaiba and Mokuba, had this phone number. Possibly Isono, Kaiba's right hand, but Yuugi doubted that.

"Moshi Moshi." He flipped open the phone, bracing himself for an annoyed Kaiba. Instead he was shocked to realise two things.

One, Jounouchi's mobile had visual capabilities. He could see the person calling. Floating above the screen in miniature three-dimensions.

Two, it wasn't Kaiba OR Mokuba.

"Noa-kun?" The green haired boy looked as embarrassed and nervous as Yuugi felt.

"Um... Hi." Noa's eyes glanced around the monitor, as if he could see past the screen. "Is Jounouchi-kun there?"

"He's asleep." Yuugi replied stupidly, then tilted the camera down so Noa could see.

"Oh. Oh!" In the screen, Noa's cheeks turned pink. "I'm sorry to interrupt, I didn't mean to, I... I..."

"What's wrong, Noa-kun?" Yuugi asked, his own discomfort set aside in the face of Noa's. "Is there something I can help you with instead?"

"I... um..." Noa sighed. "I just called to talk to Jounouchi. It's nothing."

"Noa-kun." Yuugi scolded. Something was obviously worrying the boy. Jounouchi had explained once, on pain of death if Yuugi told anyone, that Mokuba was trying to resurrect his green-haired brother. Jounouchi had wanted to get Yuugi's opinion on it, seeing as Yuugi was one of the people that Noa had almost killed in the virtual world. Yuugi still wasn't quite sure what he felt about Noa's return, but he wasn't going to sit by if he could do anything to help someone. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... I'm -dead-." Yuugi ached silently at the amount of anguish and conflict in the green haired boy's voice. "And yet... And yet, here I am, talking to you."

Yuugi nodded. That didn't sound so strange to him, but then he'd had an ancient Pharaoh stuck in his head that he'd talked to on a regular basis for quiet a while. Also Ancient Egyptians seemed to have an odd out look on the after life compared to modern times. If you failed judgement against the feather of Ma'at, you were eaten by Ammt. If you passed, your life continued on much the way it was in the real world, with your friends and loved ones who had passed judgement as well. "Yes."

"But I've been dead for over nine years now." Noa looked down. "My last virtual memories, keeping my fa- keeping Gozaburou from leaving the Virtual World were finally finished being restored today. I was DEAD. I knew it, I accepted it, was even a little happy, because I was doing the right thing. And here I am, I'm back."

"Do you want to be back?" Yuugi questioned. That seemed to be the tricky part. If Noa didn't want to be here, there wasn't much that could keep him here. And yet, something that was alive generally strove to stay alive.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Noa sighed, gripping his forehead with a hand in a gesture that was eerily similar to Kaiba when he couldn't figure something out. "Why am I HERE?!"

The flip answer probably would have been 'why are any of us here?', which was something that each person had to ask and answer for themselves. But Noa had been born, killed, turned virtual and destroyed, and now created for a third time. "I think.... It's because of several reasons." He said slowly.

Blue eyes stared at him like a drowning man failing for a life line. Yuugi smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "But mainly, I think it's because of Mokuba-kun."

"Mokuba?!" Yuugi almost laughed, the green haired boy looked like someone had hit him over the head with a baseball bat.

"Yes, Mokuba-kun." Yuugi took a moment to collect his thoughts, running his fingers through the long fringe that covered Jounouchi's face. "From what Jounouchi-kun has told me, Mokuba-kun's been working on bringing you back since he met you. You're his brother, just like Kaiba-kun is, and that's all that matters to him. He doesn't want to see you trapped in the Virtual Realm."

"But if I'm dead, it shouldn't matter." Noa's expression turn perplexed. "I'm not even his real brother. Why should it matter to him at all? I -used- him, turned him against his brother and stole his body!"

"And gave it back and saved us all." Yuugi chided gently. Noa's face dropped. "You're going to have to talk to Mokuba-kun about that, Noa-kun. I don't know what is going on in Mokuba-kun's brain, I can only guess."

Noa was silent.

"I think..." Yuugi said slowly after Noa didn't say anything for a while. "That really, Mokuba-kun is lonely."

That got a reaction. "Lonely?"

"From what Jounouchi-kun tells me, Mokuba-kun doesn't have many close friends." Yuugi set the phone down on the couch's arm rest. It felt awkward talking while holding the phone like that. "Most of the people that he does hang out with are his brother's age, we're all five years older than him. On top of which, Mokuba-kun is a Kaiba, and not many people can understand that. Can you still see okay?"

"Yeah, I can see you. But... " Noa nodded, then frowned thoughtfully. "I'm really the same age as Seto."

"Minus the these past several years-?"

"I'd be.... oh." Noa's eyes went wide. "Mokuba's..."

"In his sixteenth year." Yuugi smiled. "Not so much of an age difference."

Noa looked down, presumably at his virtual body. "I think... it may be time for me to grow up a little."

A new appearance would probably help heal some bad memories for all of them as well. "Talk to Mokuba-kun." Yuugi agreed. "And Noa-kun?"

"Yes?"

"I don't think you have to worry about disappearing again for a long time." Now that Mokuba had Noa back again, he wasn't going to let go any time soon.

Dragons were like that.

Noa smiled back, a look of awed relief on his face. Yuugi smiled back. Or perhaps it was that the green haired boy was trapped in a cycle of rebirth until he found Nirvana. Just a much faster cycle of rebirth than most people attained...

Yuugi shifted the topic away to other things, answering questions and clarifying things that had changed since Noa had last been aware. It wasn't just the past three years that Noa was unaware of, but nearly the last decade, since his physical death. He had truly been isolated in the Virtual World. No wonder he had gone mad.

He was surprised when Mokuba appeared, quietly sneaking into the room. A glance at the clock revealed that a couple of hours had passed since they had started talking and that Jounouchi's cellphone was almost out of power.

"Noa called me." Mokuba whispered, sliding off his backpack. "Said that Jounouchi was here."

"He is." Yuugi agreed. "And thank you, Noa-kun."

"Welcome." Noa smiled.

"Noa!" Mokuba's face lit up with a wide grin. "How did you-?"

"I figured out how to place a phone call." Noa smiled back, raising a finger in an 'ET phone home' gesture. "Yuugi-san and I have been talking."

"I'm glad." Mokuba looked relieved.

"I'll see you when you get home, Ototo! Later, Yuugi! And thanks!" Noa waved, then disappeared, the screen going blank. The mobile chirped, prissily informing them that it was out of battery power, then shut itself down.

Mokuba flushed happily at being called 'Ototo', Little Brother, by Noa, then hid it by kneeling down to peer at the blond. "How long has Jounouchi been asleep?"

"Most of this afternoon." Yuugi frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, I don't think so." Mokuba rested his hand against Jounouchi's forehead, his other hand on his own head. "The average adult is supposed to get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. The average dog gets between ten and thirteen, so it could be that he needs more sleep than most people do now. And I don't think he slept on the plane."

"Jounouchi-kun has always slept more than most people I know." Yuugi commented, half teasing.

He got a brief smile from Mokuba in return. But the truth of the matter was that they still weren't completely sure of what all the effects on Jounouchi were. The doctors said he was 'stable', but that didn't necessarily mean that he was always going to be so. For all they knew, he could be dissolving from the inside out and they wouldn't know until it was too late.

Jounouchi made a grumbling sound, rubbing his cheek against the leather of Yuugi's pants leg and muttering about tennis balls. Yuugi raised an eyebrow and Mokuba shrugged.

"Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi leaned forward, shaking his blond friend's shoulder. "Jounouchi-kun, time to wake up. Mokuba-kun is here."

"Nuh? Mokuba?" Jounouchi's eyes opened blearily for a moment, then he sat straight up. "Mokuba! Holy shit, I'm late to pick him up!"

"I'm here." Mokuba pointed out dryly.

"Oh." Jounouchi slumped back against the sofa with a yawn. "Sorry, Mokuba. I could have sworn I set an alarm..."

"Noa-kun probably turned it off." Yuugi assured him, his legs suddenly cold without Jounouchi's body heat. He stretched, finding his legs were also partially asleep too. Ow.

"Still..." Jounouchi frowned. He took his job as Mokuba's protector seriously.

Mokuba straightened as much as he could while still kneeling, looking serious. Or as serious as he could while trying not to laugh. "Just don't let it happen again, Jounouchi-kun."

"Yes, Boss. Your brother would kill me anyway." Jounouchi agreed, looking properly apologetic until he grinned and stretched, several joints audibly popping. "Oh, that feels good. So, what did I miss?"

"Yuugi playing armchair psychologist to Noa." Mokuba said cheerfully.

"I was not." Yuugi muttered, turning slightly red. "He just had some questions. About death and other things."

"I'm not surprised he would ask you about that." Mokuba poked Yuugi's black tank top. "Mr. Wears All Black and Egypt-y."

Jounouchi let out a bark of laughter, covering his face with a hand. Yuugi felt his face turn even more red. "Uh, Mokuba-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"To Egyptians, Black wasn't the colour of Death." The Nile flooded it's banks every spring, leaving behind a layer of nutrient-rich black soil that they then grew their crops to survive on. "... It was the colour of Fertility."

Mokuba's eyes went wide. "...Oh."

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto didn't understand it.

He'd woken up from a disquieting dream, not a nightmare, but enough to make him wake up and take a look around before settling back to sleep. And found Jounouchi curled up in a ball next to him, on top of the duvet, snoring softly.

Seemed like everywhere he turned, there the blond was lately. No, not lately. The blond had been there a while now, he was just noticing it more often. Especially after their conversation in America.

Jounouchi had said that they 'weren't exactly friends'. And while the words had a ring of truth to them, they didn't feel right either. They were not friends, he and Mokuba were Jounouchi's employer. But the blond didn't act like an employee did. An employee did not chase him down to eat, or take a break, or snark back. And an employee certainly didn't share a bed with their employer on a fairly regular basis. At least, not without trying to gain something from it.

By all definitions, that is what a friend would do. But they weren't friends.

He reached out to move the shaggy blond hair out of Jounouchi's face and hesitated. It was something he did for Mokuba, when checking on his younger brother before going to sleep.

It was too familiar. To have someone this close, even just physically, it was too intimate.

Fear stayed his hand, paralysing him.

"It's a horrible thing, isn't it?" Mokuba commented sleepily from Jounouchi's other side. "To be human."

"Mokuba!" He pulled his hand back, feeling strangely guilty.

"It's okay." Mokuba sat up, running a hand through Jounouchi's hair and for a dizzying moment, Seto wasn't sure what his brother was telling him was okay. To be human, to pet the blond like a puppy, to... to...

"It's okay to touch." His brother gave him a fond look, grabbing Seto's hand and putting it on Jounouchi's head. He pulled his hand back before he could register anything other than 'warm'. "And it's okay to need others,'Niisama."

Yeah, right. There were no others. Only himself and Mokuba. He tucked his hand under his body, self-contained again.

"He likes having the back of his ears scratched, even if he doesn't admit it." Mokuba whispered conspiratorially. "Watch this."

Mokuba did just what he said, rubbing the back of Jounouchi's odd floppy ears. The blond made a contented groan, then stretched himself out. Mokuba smiled mischievously at him, then rolled over to grab a spare blanket from the side of the bed and tossed it over the blond.

"He dresses to sleep in his own bed, then freezes when he gets here." Mokuba murmured. Seto sat up, realising that Mokuba was under the duvet like he was, but the blond was on top of the covers, clad only in a pair of sleep pants. Now that he mentioned it, whenever Seto had gone to wake Jounouchi for sparing, the blond was always sprawled across his bed, never curled up.

Logically, the proper response should have been say that the blond could sleep under the duvet, like they were. He said nothing. Things were already too personal. How much more would it hurt to have someone even closer?

Mokuba sighed, obviously disappointed with him. "'Niisama..."

"No, Mokuba."

His brother made an annoyed sound, plopping backwards on the bed, causing the mattress to shake slightly. "I'm not going to be here forever, you know."

"Yes." He was all too aware of that. Mokuba was a genius in his own right, Seto couldn't and wouldn't hold his brother back from exploring that.

But that also put an interesting spin on reasons for the blond's presence. "Is that why you wanted Jounouchi as your guard?"

"There are only two people who have repeatedly tried to be your friends without asking for anything in return." Mokuba said softly. "Yuugi is the other."

They -had- asked things of him. Rides, medical assistance, but no money. Never money. That was unusual in and of itself. His refusal of such requests had never been a condition to their presence either, another abnormal trend. But it didn't change the fact that he didn't have time for 'friends'.

"You've lived for the sake of the company and for me for so long, 'Niisama." He didn't have to see his brother's face to see the sadness in it. "You need to learn to live for yourself too."

"I'm fine." He commented back. It was automatic response. He could be bleeding from a gut wound and be fine. It was the way things were. The way things had to be. He -had- to be strong.

"I'm not saying you should -marry- the guy." Mokuba sat up giving him a disbelieving look. "I'm just saying that you should be friends. You don't argue now nearly as much as you used to."

"He doesn't act like a moron all the time, like he used to." He retorted. That was a lie, but the blond's bravado wasn't nearly as annoying as it once was. Boasts and threats that had once been irritating where now amusing, as they were generally intended to be. They also came less frequently, the more the blond became comfortable around them.

Mokuba looked triumphant. "That's cause you've gotten to know him. And him you too. So you don't piss each other off anymore. And you really do have a lot in common. Yuugi too. He'd still like to be your friend."

"He threatened me with a shovel." Seto retorted, vaguely relishing the bewildered look on Mokuba's face. "-If I ever hurt Jounouchi."

"Good." Mokuba appeared pleased by the proclamation.

Seto raised an eyebrow.

"Who else is gonna threaten you with a shovel?!" Mokuba pointed out. "Means he's not scared of you, like almost everyone else is."

He sniffed. He'd worked hard to get that terrifying reputation. He didn't need it undermined by someone who couldn't even reach his shoulder.

Mokuba sighed again, flopping across the blond in a theatrical gesture. "I'm just saying..."

"That you'd like to see everyone as one big happy lovey-dovey group." Like Mazaki was always preaching.

He got glared at for the sarcasm. "I'd just like to see you with some friends, 'Niisama." Mokuba scolded. "Jounouchi and Yuugi already want to be your friends. Maybe you could let them? Possibly show up on movie nights without me having to get Jounouchi to Fetch you?"

He wanted to reject the invitation. He was Kaiba Seto, he didn't need anyone. Yet... he couldn't refuse Mokuba anything. Not really. Not when it was important to his brother. Important enough to try to manipulate people to help, in any case.

"All right." He sighed. "I will try." It would probably hurt more in the long run to try to push them away than letting things continue the way they had been anyway.

"That's all I'm asking." Mokuba smiled brilliantly at him. He smiled slightly back, as much of a smile as he was able to garner.

"And here." Mokuba reached out, grabbing his hand and putting it on Jounouchi's head. "He really does like to be petted. It's okay."

The blond hair under his hands had a coarse texture, a bit like a dog's, but was soft to the touch. When neither of them burst into flames and Jounouchi failed to react or bite his arm off, he moved his hand, the golden strands shifting through his fingers. It was soothing, in a strangely odd way.

Jounouchi made a contented sound, mumbled something about chasing squirrels and shifted closer. He yanked his hand back, startled. Mokuba laughed softly, catching his hand again and moving it back to the blond's head.

"Sleep well, 'Niisama." Mokuba patted his hand, and Jounouchi's head by default, then curled back up, closing his eyes and falling back asleep.

Seto lay back down as well, fingertips just brushing the fringe from the blond's face. It still was too close, too intimate and therefore dangerous, but it wasn't as quite terrifying as he would have formerly imagined either.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yo!" Jounouchi walked into Mokuba's lab, looking around. Mokuba was at his chair as always, but he had a visitor as well. It caused him to do a double take. "Noa?"

"Hi." The green-haired Kaiba smiled shyly and waved back. He looked older, about Mokuba's age. The hair had been changed as well; the fringe was shorter at the middle, the sides almost long enough to touch his chin. The white schoolboy uniform had been replaced with a Chinese-style white tunic and pants.

And he was floating in mid-air.

"I got a Solid Vision system up in the lab." Mokuba commented, his eyes not leaving the screen he was watching. "I'd like to get a Solid System up and running, but 'Niisama said no."

"I'm still too much of a security risk." Noa explained, a small sad smile on his face. Noa obviously knew the reasons and understood them, but it must have been kind of frustrating to be so close and so far away from people at the same time.

"Like the new look." Jounouchi gave him a thumbs up. "Mokuba help?"

"Of course." Mokuba grinned, turning his chair slightly so that Jounouchi could see that he was cradling a large bowl of popcorn. "Who else around here has the fashion sense to do so?"

Jounouchi remembered Kaiba's outfits with the metal studs, the buckles and the leather and sweatdropped. "Right." He shook off that mental picture and walked over to see what Mokuba was looking at.

And promptly did a double take. There were two Black Magicians on the screen. Twisting around and missing to what amounted to a large amount of armour. And doing things to each other that he'd never even remotely seen in normal duels. At least, not by the monsters themselves. "Duel Monsters Porn?!"

"Yup." Mokuba took a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth. "Evidently some of the engineers get bored late at night. There's a bunch of it saved on the servers."

Jounouchi blinked, turning his head to the side as the characters rotated in mid-air, riding each other's magical staffs. "Okay... no two guys are -that- flexible, even with no gravity."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Noa rotate so that virtual boy was watching the screen, floating upside down.

"And you would know... How?" Mokuba raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Eh. About half the porn I loaned Yuugi back in High School was guy-on-guy." He turned his head the other direction, still watching the characters. "That's why we always made sure Anzu didn't get her hands on it, we'd never get it back. Come to think of it, 'Jiichan probably still has some of it that he confiscated from Yuugi."

Mokuba had a look on his face that was almost triumphant. Jounouchi looked at him suspiciously. Usually that look meant trouble.

"Speakin' of which..." Jounouchi straightened up. "You're a little young to be watching this, aren't you?"

"Am not." Mokuba set his jaw firmly.

Jounouchi raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You're how old now?"

"It's my sixteenth year."

"But you're not sixteen yet." Jounouchi hit the power button, turning off the monitor. "You can wait a few months."

"What?" Mokuba looked both astonished Jounouchi would do such a thing and outraged. "I bet you didn't wait until you were sixteen!"

"I had to be sixteen to rent it." Jounouchi shot back. "Trust me, you'll appreciate it a lot more then." Okay, so maybe he had to have been sixteen to legally watch it, but he'd already had the start of his collection by then.

And it wasn't the fact that Mokuba was watching it that he was objecting to. Mokuba was a Kaiba, and as such, didn't have many of the normal limitations that most kids his age did. Having to wait like the rest of his classmates would do Mokuba some good, make him anticipate it more. Things were always more interesting when you -couldn't- have them, something Mokuba rarely had the opportunity to learn.

Either that or Mokuba would have to get sneaky about finding and watching it, which was half the fun right there.

"I appreciate it fine now!" Mokuba shot back hotly. Noa floated out of the way, looking nervous.

"Noa found it, didn't he?" Jounouchi deduced. He hadn't been a juvenile delinquent for nothing. Noa's flinch told him that he was correct. He sighed. "All right. Here's what we're going to do. Kaiba probably doesn't know about it, does he?"

"No." Noa shook his head. Mokuba continued to glare sullenly.

"Right. Noa, e-mail me the addresses for the files. Don't delete them just yet. No more finding porn for Mokuba. Mokuba, I'm holding you responsible for that."

"What?" Mokuba glared. "You're not my brother!"

"No." Jounouchi grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. "I'm not. And if I find out that you've been watching it off the servers again, I -will- tell him. Furthermore." He leaned forward. "I will see to it that access to the internet, the Kaiba Corporation mainframes and your laboratory will be cut off for an undetermined amount of time."

"Then how am I supposed to work?" Mokuba shot back. "And that would cut off Noa as well!"

"I -suppose- that you'll have to spend your time -outside-. Running around. Getting fresh air." Jounouchi's grin got wider as Mokuba began to look terrified. "And Noa's -your- responsibility, isn't he?"

That was the condition on Mokuba restoring Noa, Noa was Mokuba's responsibility. Anything that Noa did was Mokuba's fault. "You wouldn't."

Jounouchi just grinned.

"You would." Mokuba half groaned, half growled. "I've created a monster. Give someone some power and it goes straight to their head."

"We only do it cause we wuuuuuuub you, 'Mokie-kun'." Jounouchi sing-sang in an overly bright childish tone. Mokuba looked at him in abject horror.

Jounouchi cackled. Spreading Chaos and Disorder. His work here was done. "Right. So I'll check on you two troublemakers later, I've got fear and terror to spread among some engineers. Later~!" He wiggled his fingers at them as he slipped out the door, off to check e-mail.

As the door shut behind him, he sworn he could have heard Mokuba musing out loud that while they were too young to -watch- porn, Jounouchi hadn't said anything about not making their own...

-But that couldn't possibly have been right.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto watched the blond figure on the floor of the testing grounds a more than story below the viewing platform. Technically, it was a laboratory, and kept to those exacting sterile conditions. But there were no test tubes or beakers in this shrine to science, just electronics and the technology that ran them. The room was half the length of a football field, but Jounouchi still managed to fill the giant room with his cocky presence.

"Ready?" He called into the microphone, pressing the intercom switch. Jounouchi gave him a wide grin and a thumbs up. Seto nodded and released the intercom. They could hear him, but for the testing purposes, he couldn't hear them unless the intercom was triggered. "Go."

The technicians around him launched into a swarm of activity. Monitoring, programming, observing. Behind him, Isono watched over them all.

Generally the technician who was their test subject responded with a brisk 'Affirmative' instead of a non-verbal reply. However, when Jounouchi had been informed of this, instead of using the standard reply the next time he had responded with 'Fuckin' A'.

A grin and a thumbs up was considerately more acceptable.

"What level, sir?" a technician asked.

"Hardest." No need to think about it. As Mokuba had said in his original argument, and now that Malik was out of the duelling picture, Jounouchi was the third highest ranking duellist, after himself and Yuugi. And since Seto already had such a duellist under his payroll, he might as well use him.

Below them, a black silhouette of a figure appeared on the far end of the room, a duel disk on his arm.

"Aw, man." Jounouchi grumbled. "Him again. Can we give him some features? Some pants at least? Maybe some witty dialogue? It's not as much fun without the witty dialogue."

One of the technicians hit the intercom button. "Let's Get Ready To D-D-D-DUEL!!!"

Seto glared at him. The shamed-faced technician ducked his head and turned his attention back to the monitors. Jounouchi laughed. "You ROCK, Murphy! Thanks!"

Murphy raised his head enough to flash his own thumbs up to the duellist below before ducking again. Jounouchi tossed the man a grin before turning his attention back to the duel. Seto hid a smirk. He hired these men and women for their creative ability, their skill at thinking outside of the box. It would be contradictive of him to punish them for doing exactly that.

It was fascinating to watch Jounouchi, now that he was more fond of the 'Puppy'. The blond was usually a bit of an energetic scatterbrain, but when he duelled, all that energy became completely focused on the duel. It was like watching a smirking wolf hungrily eyeing a moose for dinner.

A small portion of his brain, the one not involved with the mechanics and technicalities of what they were creating, thrilled at having put that expression on the blond's face. THIS was why he created 'toys' and 'games'. -He- had done that.

The duel progressed well, despite the computer's lack of 'acceptable' responses; Jounouchi made up for the computer's silence with a one-sided colourful debate of the computer's skills and lack of personality. The technicians in the lab were starting to congratulate themselves on what looked to be a successful test run. There had been no glitches, no shorts and the Solid System holograms appeared to be meshing well with the Solid Vision battle data.

He was just starting to relax when Jounouchi faltered in his tirade, shaking his head as if to get rid of an annoying insect buzzing around him. The banter started up again, only to abruptly stop as Jounouchi's hands flew up to cover his ears, face twisting in obvious pain.

Seto triggered the intercom. "Jounouchi?"

"I'm okay!" One hand waved him off, only to promptly clamp over his ear again as the blond swayed unsteadily. "... or not..."

People buzzed around him, shouting stats. There didn't appear to be any malfunctions in the system. "Shut it down." he ordered anyway as Jounouchi staggered an uneven line towards a wall, leaning against it as if he wasn't sure which way was up. "This session is over. I want a complete diagnostic."

Far below, Jounouchi gave them a weak smile then stumbled towards the exit, using the wall as a prop to keep him upright. Seto watched the technicians scramble for a moment, all joviality erased, before turning and heading for the stairs to the lower level.

He found Jounouchi curled up on one of the benches in the men's locker room, looking pale and still clutching his head, eyes squeezed tightly shut. One brown eye cracked open a slit before quickly closing again. "Dizzy." The blond rasped.

Possibilities flickered through Seto's head. Was something wrong with Jounouchi? Had something in the Solid System caused his body to react? Was there something wrong with the Solid System?

"Can you tell me what set it off?" Seto asked, keeping his voice low so as not to cause further pain. He'd had a few migraines in the past that had left him feeling dizzy; loud noises and bright lights were not conductive to decreasing the pain. He glanced around the room, finding it empty, then turned off half the lights, dimming the brightness level.

"Thanks," Jounouchi said gratefully, apparently steeling himself for the conversation.

"Water?" He offered, then mentally kicked himself. He was acting like he cared, which while Mokuba would be pleased, would cause problems if he acted that way in public.

"Nah." The blond reached up and took off the headset he wore to pin his ears down and whimpered as they moved. "Thanks though. Some sort of noise... high pitched." Jounouchi rubbed his ears. "Was slightly annoyin' for a while, then it suddenly increased and tried drillin' a hole in my head."

"I could not hear anything." Seto mused. None of the technicians had commented on a noise either. "But dogs hear at a higher scale than humans do... has your hearing been tested recently?"

Jounouchi grimaced in distaste. He disliked going to visit the doctors to be prodded at whenever something happened. "No."

"Hmm." Seto mused. Jounouchi made a face, then gingerly untied the long sleeved shirt from around his waist, freeing the tail with a heartfelt groan. "You all right?"

"Eh. Just sore. It got kinda pinched in the fabric." Jounouchi waved it off. "I'll be fine. We done here?"

"Yes, I believe we're done testing for the day." If there was something wrong with the machinery it would take the rest of the day at least to tear everything apart to find it.

"Great. If you don't mind then," Jounouchi shook the shirt out. "I'm gonna head over to Yuugi's before pickin' up Mokuba."

"No, that's fine." He agreed. "In fact, why don't you-"

The door opened, Isono walking in. "Seto-sama, the technicians-" There was a slight hiccup in the older man's speech as he saw them, before continuing on without the slightest change in expression. "-believe that they have found what went wrong."

"I'll be there in a minute, Isono." Seto growled. Jounouchi just stared at the man with dumb shock written on his face, the shirt hanging from his hands, ears and tail clearly visible. Isono bowed, then turned and walked out of the room.

"Well... damn." Jounouchi commented, running a hand down his face. "I'm a moron."

"Isono is loyal." Seto commented. Isono had also been the first person Seto had called upon Jounouchi's... accident. However, this was probably Isono's first time seeing the full extent of Jounouchi's mutations. "He will not say anything."

"Yeah, but... shit." Jounouchi cursed, tapping a fist against his leg.

"Language." He scolded. "I shall see you and Mokuba tonight."

"Yeah." Jounouchi waved him off. "I'll be outta here in just a moment. Got to beat my head against the lockers for a while or something."

"Any damages to property will be taken out of your salary." Seto commented mildly before leaving the room.

Jounouchi dry voice followed him out. "Thanks."

Playing with the puppy was still fun in its own way.

The pleasant thought faded as he walked back up the stairs to the viewing gallery. Despite his reassurances to the blond, he was still worried. Isono was the best right hand man that he could hope for, but he was still leery of anyone other than Mokuba knowing his secrets. Jounouchi knew too many as it was.

Isono bowed slightly. "My apologies for interrupting your conversation, Seto-sama."

Seto grunted in return. "What did you find?" He asked briskly.

A circuit board had overloaded, burning out the sensor on it. If the electronic whine hadn't injured Jounouchi's ears and caused Seto to shut down the machine, the chances were they might have lost the entire room and quite a bit of data.

Right on cue, the door opened and Jounouchi stuck his head in. The head set was back in his hair, hiding the ears under the unruly mop of hair. "Oh, forgot to mention. My little sister is in town. Okay if we have her over for dinner?"

"As the main course or as a guest eating with us?" Seto asked dryly.

He got a confused look in return before Jounouchi glared at him. "Ew. So not funny, Kaiba."

Depended on who you asked. "That is fine." He dismissed it. He made a mental note to check to make sure one of the guest bedrooms was clean and available for use. No doubt Mokuba and Jounouchi would team up to get him to agree to putting her up for the night. "I should be home by seven."

"Great! Yuugi might be joining us too!" Jounouchi beamed, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "We'll see you then!" With one last wave, he disappeared out the door.

He growled, more out of habit than any true annoyance, and turned his attention back to the technicians, only to realise that everyone was staring at him with small amused smiles on their faces.

"What?" Seto bristled.

People quickly turned back to their computers, except for Isono, who continued to smile with what could only be described as a fond look on his face. Seto narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"It is nice to see to see Seto-sama enjoying spending time with friends." Isono said, sounding strangely proud.

Translation: Isono was happy to see him with -friends-.

"What ever." He grumbled in response. As one of Seto's oldest and most loyal and trusted employees, Isono had a few more liberties than most of the people of around Seto, save for Mokuba and Jounouchi.

But just because it was permitted didn't mean Seto had to appreciate it.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Katsuya-Niichan!" His sister came flew towards him, arms outstretched as he stepped out of the summer heat into the cooler temperatures of the Kame Game Shop.

"Shizuka!" Jounouchi caught her, the impact driving him back half a step before he swung her around in a circle, almost hitting Mokuba in the process. She laughed, hugging him fiercely. They didn't see each other often and it was nice to know she'd missed him too. They held on to each other for a minute, Jounouchi breathing in the scent of his sister.

His sense of smell was stronger now, but even compared to his memories, her scent had changed. It was more mature now, she was becoming an adult.

It was weird to think she was now the same age he was when the Other Yuugi left. When things had returned back to 'Normal'.

Mokuba skirted around them with a small chuckle, bouncing up to Yuugi. "Hey, Yuugi. Mind if I take over the Duel Table?"

"Be my guest." Yuugi motioned Mokuba towards the back room. "Do you need any help?"

Mokuba gave him a strange look. "I... think I'll be all right." Said the youngest co-creator of the latest Duel Disk Technology.

Yuugi nodded. "Okay."

Jounouchi grinned. Poor Yuugi. Sometimes he was just too helpful. "Shall we?" He asked Shizuka, who grinned and nodded, both of them leaving an arm slung around each other. He snagged Yuugi on the way to the back room, wrapping an arm around his smaller friend as well. Yuugi ducked his head, but wrapped an arm around him back. Shizuka grinned happily at the two of them, although it made it hard to fit through the door without letting go of each other.

He got a rather big shock when he realised that the back room wasn't empty save for Mokuba, who was fiddling with some wires from the official Kaiba Corporation holographic Duel Table. A blast of various perfumes assaulted his nose.

"Mai."

"You three are just -so- sweet." She cooed, batting her eyelashes as she smirked.

"Blow me." He snarked back.

Her smirk turned down right evil. "Not for free."

Yuugi turned pink. Shizuka's eyes widened almost comically as she blushed as well. Jounouchi grinned. "Hey, Mai. Haven't seen you in what? A few months? And gee, you're even sober this time."

"Yes, well." She flipped a wave of golden hair over her shoulder. "I do have -some- standards to maintain."

"Don't let 'im fool you." Mokuba grunted, holding a screwdriver in his teeth. "She was pretendin' ta be drunk at the time. There. Done."

He smacked the table, which flickered, then lit up with a hum. Instead of lighting up with a duel in progress or Duel Monsters themselves, Noa appeared from the waist up. "I think it worked." Noa announced.

Mai raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

Mokuba grinned, removing the screwdriver from his mouth. "It did. Mai, Shizuka, this is Noa. Noa, Kujaku Mai, Duellist and Kawai Shizuka, Jounouchi's little sister."

"I... know you..." Shizuka ventured, looking hesitant.

"Yeah. Um. We've met before." Noa looked nervous.

"Oh. Well. Nice to meet you again." She smiled at him. Noa hesitantly smiled back.

"He's not the same Noa you met before." Mokuba commented, brushing off his knees as he stood up. "It's funny what a little social interaction will do for a guy's psyche."

"And I'm kinda stuck in the table currently." Noa pointed, lifting a leg and putting it back down. He was limited to the projection beam of the table.

"Oh." Shizuka blinked, obviously confused. "Okay."

Jounouchi laughed, giving Shizuka and Yuugi a brief squeeze before releasing them both. "So what have you been up to?"

Everyone perched on chairs and tables, talking and catching up with excited voices. Jounouchi relaxed, wrapping the voices of his friends around him. This was his favourite element, his friends around him, happy.

Now if only Ol' Blue Eyes would lighten up around people, life would be perfect.

The door burst open. "HEY YUUGI!" Honda's voice shattered the contentment like a kitchen knife through a helium balloon.

"We heard Jounouchi's cute little sister is here!" Otogi's voice cheered.

Otogi and Honda paused mid-charge into the room as they stared at Noa. "Aren't you dead?" Honda inquired. Otogi nodded, tangled up with Honda.

"No, he's not." Mokuba growled coldly. He did a great impression of his older brother's 'Don't-FUCK-With-Me' glare.

"Man, you have more lives than a cat." Otogi whistled. Honda nodded in agreement, eyes wide in surprise.

Noa smiled hopefully, a pair of darker coloured cat ears growing out of his head as a matching tail waved behind him. "Mew?"

"Ooooo." Jounouchi grinned as he growled, half rising from his chair. "Run and I'll chase ya." Something about small fast moving animals just made him want to -chase-. Noa hissed back, tail puffing up.

"Not now, Jounouchi-kun." He noticed the alarmed look on Yuugi's face as his small friend pushed him back into the sofa. Oh. Oops. He quickly stilled his wagging tail and sat down. Hopefully no one noticed his slip.

"Shizuka!" Otogi grinned, spotting his sister and diving towards her. "You've grown even prettier than the last time I saw you!"

His face was intercepted by the sole of Mai's boot. "Now now, boys." She not-quite purred. "Girls like a little bit more finesse other than a greeting before someone attempts to jump their bones."

Both Otogi and Honda's faces fell as Mai tucked Shizuka between Jounouchi and herself on the sofa, pointedly blocking their approach to his blushing sister.

Some days, Jounouchi freakin' ADORED Mai.

 

+++  
+++

 

It was weird seeing Jounouchi acting... well... like a Big Brother. To someone besides him, that was. Mokuba found himself chuckling to himself as they ate dinner while Jounouchi cackled about Mai blocking Honda and Otogi's advances on his sister. It was like what little dignity Jounouchi had as a bodyguard was tossed right out the window in the presence of his fond sister.

'Niisama noticed it as well, sharing an amused look with Mokuba while they ate. 'Niisama wasn't quite as relaxed as he normally was if it was just him and Jounouchi, but he seemed a little bit more amused then usual, so it evened out in the end.

Jounouchi's sister was okay, in a shy girly way. She didn't Duel much though. She blushed a lot too, smiling proudly at Jounouchi, so he figured there were worse things.

Although he still couldn't figure out how rag-top Jounouchi ended up with a complete babe for a sister. No wonder Jounouchi was paranoid about guys around her. Or in Mai's case, girls. Which, in Mokuba's humble opinion, would be damn hot.

Shizuka was laughing as she told 'Niisama about Honda and Otogi's reaction to Noa's sudden appearance of a cat ears and tail. She still couldn't remember where she had met Noa, but she didn't seem too worried about it either, so Mokuba wasn't going to remind her. He'd take his good fortune where he could.

Jounouchi looked embarrassed as he admitted to rising to chase the Cat-boy Noa, causing 'Niisama to chuckle, just a little bit, so quick most people probably would have missed it.

"Oh!" Shizuka clapped her hands together. "Is that why Oniichan has dog ears and a tail too?"

... And the contented atmosphere abruptly shattered into a million pieces, like shards of glass. Mokuba had heard the phrase before about 'An elephant in the room' but he'd never actually experienced it before. Suddenly they had a giant purple elephant covered in sequins and confetti doing the freaking can-can on the table and no one wanted to comment on it.

"It's my fault-" He started, only to be cut off with a sharp glance by Jounouchi.

"NO." Jounouchi snapped, his tone implying that if someone so much as -argued- with him, he'd be forced to take Drastic Measures. "It is NOT your fault. And it's not yours either, Kaiba, so shut your pie hole."

Mokuba glanced at 'Niisama, who was silently mouthing the words 'pie hole' as if he'd never heard the phrase before. Or at least, not directed towards him.

Shizuka was glancing around in worried confusion. "I-I'm sorry... did I-?"

"No." Jounouchi sighed heavily, looking at 'Niisama pleadingly. "Kaiba... y'mind if..."

"She is your sister." 'Niisama said in a quiet voice, waving it off. "And it is your...." He trailed off, Mokuba silently filling in 'body' and 'secret' for the unspoken part of the sentence.

"Thanks. Right." Jounouchi took a deep breath, turning towards his sister. "Y'see, it's like this... There was an accident, which neither of these two yahoos had anything to do with, so don't let their personal guilt trips fool you, and I kinda ended up with a few extra body modifications. They know, Yuugi knows, now you know and it's no one elses' business. Okay?"

Shizuka sat there very quietly and for a moment, Mokuba was silently afraid she was going to break into hysterics. Beside him, he could feel 'Niisama stiffen, as if tensing for impact.

Then she reached for Jounouchi, touching his face. "Did it hurt?"

Jounouchi blinked. "Um... sorta? I don't really remember... I passed out and Kaiba caught me. He offered ta pay ta try ta change me back, but I don't really see the point to it..."

"You're happy?" She questioned.

"Yeah." Jounouchi shook his head, not to discharge her hands, but more of an amused gesture. "You and Yuugi both... the exact same question."

"It's a good question." Shizuka said primly. Her fingers traced across his features and Mokuba remembered that she'd been blind for a while. "May I-?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sure." Jounouchi took off the hat, his ears flopping out. "Kinda silly, huh?"

Shizuka smiled, her eyes sparkling, almost like she was going to cry, despite the happy expression on the rest of her face. "Oh, I don't know... I think they kind of suit my Oniichan."

Jounouchi grinned back, his own eyes brighter than normal. "Yeah. I think so too. Plus I can hear real good now."

"Just don't tug on the tail." 'Niisama muttered darkly. Mokuba gave 'Niisama an inquiring look that 'Niisama ignored. That sounded like that had a story behind it. "Tugging on the tail is -bad-."

Shizuka nodded, picking up her fork and turning towards dinner again. "I trust you're taking good care of him?" She asked, a Queen commanding her subjects.

"Other way around." Mokuba grinned back. "He's taking really good care of us."

'Niisama grunted in return, which was probably as close to an agreement as anyone was likely to get from him at the moment. Mokuba picked up his fork as well and resumed eating, feeling like they had just dodged a potential hurtle. Jounouchi didn't have much contact with his Mom or Dad, but he did care the world about his sister and what she thought.

"How'd you know?" He questioned, belatedly remembering he wasn't supposed to talk with his mouth full and quickly took a drink of water to quickly wash the food down. "Most people either don't notice or think they're imagining things."

"I spent a few years not being able to see clearly." Shizuka said quietly as Jounouchi slowly started eating his food. Or slowly for Jounouchi anyway. He was usually as much of a food vacuum as Mokuba was, which wasn't Mokuba's fault. He was -hungry- all the time. "So now... I don't take what I see for granted. So I tend to see things differently than other people do."

Which made sense, in a twisted sort of way. But most people Mokuba knew would at the very least freak out a little bit more about something like this. Instead, Shizuka had a very -serene- aura about her.

"She's going to school to be an artist." Jounouchi added with a proud smile. "She's getting pretty good at it too."

She blushed again, dismissing the flattery. "I am not."

"You always say that." Jounouchi retorted, grinning.

Conversation shifted back to more normal things and Mokuba relaxed again, picking up and finding the previous friendly atmosphere, although 'Niisama kept looking at Shizuka strangely. Mokuba couldn't entirely blame him.

Cause as weird as Jounouchi was, his sister was -way- weirder than even Jounouchi was...

 

+++  
+++

 

Shizuka didn't take the news quite as gracefully as it may have appeared to the Kaiba siblings, but that was what private breakdowns were for, Jounouchi mused as he walked down the hall to his own bedroom. She had asked a lot of questions, trying to understand everything that had happened, make sure that he was as fine as he acted.

He -was-, just nervous as hell and worried about his sister. He hadn't meant to spring that on her, hell, he'd hoped she wouldn't find out at all. Course, she'd been annoyed as hell at him for that too, for not telling her in the first place.

It wasn't like he was going to take a full page ad out in the paper, to let everyone know that there was the possibility that he wasn't entirely human. He got prodded enough by the Docs as it was, he didn't need people coming out of the woodwork to poke at him, trying to find out how he ticked. He ticked just fine.

And it'd be bloody hell on the Kaiba, both Ol' Blue Eyes and Mokuba. The media would have a field day with the Kaiba keeping a monster as a pet. And they'd get blamed for it, even if it wasn't their fault. Mokuba and Ol' Blue Eyes still felt guilty, the idiots.

At one point, hell, even a few years back, he would have taken that guilt and rubbed it in their faces, milked it for all it was worth. Now? Wasn't worth the effort. He liked his life, as dog-eared and Kaiba-ridden as it was. And he didn't want to mess that up.

Eventually he'd gotten that through to Shizuka and she'd agreed not to talk to anyone else about it, except for maybe Yuugi. It was probably more the 'Oniichan as a lab experiment' imagery than the potential trouble to the Kaiba brothers that did it, but he didn't care.

His dog-tags beeped and he tapped it the communicator around his neck. Despite the appearance, and Kaiba's offer to change it to something a little less canine-like, which he'd turned down, it was damn useful. "Yo."

"Hey, Jounouchi." Noa's voice called. "You've got company at the front gate."

"Yeah?" He glanced around for a clock and failed to find one. "Who is it at this late hour?"

"Friend of yours, with the pointy hair." Noa hedged.

Jounouchi laughed, turning around and heading for the front doors instead of his comfortable bed. "Like that narrows it down. Try again, Noa."

"The one that looks like a Doberman Pincher." Noa said firmly. "And appears to be about as friendly as one now."

That momentarily threw Jounouchi for a minor loop. "Honda?" He guessed.

"That's the one." Noa affirmed. "Wants to talk to you."

"Oh... kay..." He passed an antique grandfather clock along the way, it was after ten. Early enough to still be awake, but late enough that most people weren't usually out making social calls. And Honda had never shown up at the Kaiba Household before, usually they met at Yuugi's. "I got it, Noa. Thanks."

"Welcome." There was some minor grumbling from the communicator before it faded away. Jounouchi clicked it off as he headed out the front door.

He was met by a wave of still warm humid air as he stepped outside, the summer months having taken firm hold of the weather. Ah, well. He trotted down the long driveway that lead up to the Kaiba Mansion spotting a familiar figure leaning against the pillar that housed the intercom. Yup, it was Honda, he'd recognise that pointy head anywhere. "Yo, Honda!" He hollered, waving.

"Yo, Jounouchi." Honda waved back.

"Everythin' okay?" Jounouchi asked, glancing around. He didn't see anyone else on the street, but Honda looked oddly tense and it set Jounouchi on edge.

"Yeah." Honda gave him a crooked smile. "What? I need an excuse to talk to my best bud?"

"Just checkin'." Jounouchi shot him back a quick grin as he approached the pillar. Nope, was just Honda at the gate. He entered his code and slipped through the gap when the gate opened enough for him to get out. There wasn't another gate on the gate to let people instead of cars out and it didn't make sense to have the gates open all the way just to be forced to close all the way again. Gave people an opportunity to slip in when it did that.

"What's up?" He asked, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. Honda nodded at him, his own hands in his coat pockets, looking strangely defensive.

"That's what I wanna know." Honda muttered. "Just how many secrets you planning on keepin' from us, Jounouchi?"

"Eh?" Jounouchi blinked, taken by surprise. "Whaddya talkin' about?"

"I'm talking about finding out you're working for Kaiba through -Ryuuji-." Honda growled. "You never thought to tell me that you were working for someone you profess to hate their guts?"

"I haven't said that in years!" Jounouchi shot back, trying frantically to remember who Ryuuji was. Finally his brain connected the dots and reminded him that Ryuuji was Otogi's given name. Oh, yeah.

Belatedly, he also realised the only person he'd told that he was working for Kaiba Corporation originally was Yuugi, but he told Yuugi everything. Even if he didn't always mean to. "And I'm sorry! It slipped my mind! Was kinda busy at the time."

Mostly learning how not to get his butt whooped by Ol' Blue Eyes's chosen teacher on a daily basis.

"Busy? Like when you left for America for a week? It would have been NICE to know you suddenly weren't in the country!"

"It's part of my JOB." Jounouchi snapped back. "Besides, what are you? My nursemaid?"

"It's starting to look like you need one!" Honda snapped back, reaching out and grabbing the head set off of Jounouchi's ears and tossing it down on the ground. "For fuck's sate, Jounouchi! When were you going to tell us about THAT?!"

Fortunately for Jounouchi's peace of mind, his ears were usually so cramped by this time of day they tended to be kind of plastered to his skull and didn't immediately stick up.

Unfortunately, not so much for Jounouchi's peace of mind, he realised that Honda had seen his ears and tail today as well.

"Cause that's none o' yer business." He growled out, standing firm. "It's mine."

"Right. And Kaiba had nothing to do with it." Honda harped back.

"See? And dat's why I don't tell nobody. Everyone -always- jumps ta the wrong conclusion." Jounouchi snapped back.

"And what other conclusion are we supposed to jump to?" Honda demanded. "Kaiba's got what he was always bragging about! A pet MUTT!"

Jounouchi wasn't quite sure who swung first. This was the way it had always been between the two of them, battles fought with fists instead of words. It didn't matter who actually won the fight, the fight itself cleared the air between them, returned everything to status quo.

Only... this time, they weren't evenly matched like they used to be. Jounouchi fought on a daily basis, sparring with Kaiba or occasionally some of the security guards. Honda had put his brawling days behind him when he started training to be a police officer after High School. It wasn't that Honda was any less of a good fighter, it was just that Jounouchi had gotten that much better.

He dodged and blocked Honda's strikes instead of returning them, thrown off by the shift in power between the two of them and not wanting to hurt his friend. This appeared to make Honda even angrier, causing him to put more energy in his attacks, his swings getting wilder.

"When did you decide it was okay to stop sharing stuff with your friends, Jounouchi?" Honda demanded as Jounouchi took a step back.

"I didn't!" Jounouchi tossed out a few punches of his own, purposely missing Honda. "But I work for Kaiba Corporation and you're sleepin' with Otogi!"

Otogi, who worked with Industrial Illusions to get his games produced. Industrial Illusions, who was the creators of Duel Monsters and was also was an industry rival. They'd planted spies in Kaiba Corporation before. Hell, they'd taken over Kaiba Corporation Tower at one point, although the current owner Tenma Gekkou blamed that on his psychotic brother, Tenma Yakou. Not to mention the whole 'soul-sucking' thing at Duellist Kingdom was all Industrial Illusions' doing.

There was a lot of stuff he -couldn't- talk about around Honda, because it was personal information, like a funny story about something that happened over a meal, could be used against Kaiba if Otogi or Tenma got a hold of it.

It was all part of the game of business. Ol' Blue Eyes had to maintain the reputation of being a bastard with ice in his veins, or people would think he'd gotten weak. And weak was bad.

"So what?!" Honda snapped. "YOU'RE FUCKIN' KAIBA!"

Jounouchi grabbed Honda, pinning him up against the pillar, his forearm pressed up against Honda's throat. Not hard enough to prevent his friend from breathing, but enough to make it perfectly clear that he could if he wanted to.

"Y'don't know -jack-." Jounouchi snarled. "I ain't got nothin' ta say ta ya 'til ya grow a brain."

He thumped Honda's head against the stone pillar then released him, grabbed his fallen headset and stalked back towards the gates, which opened up for him without his having to enter a code. Behind him he could hear Honda falling to the ground and coughing slightly, but he ignored it. Yuugi could have his head on a plate later.

The front door to the mansion was open, two figures silhouetted inside the frame, one slightly transparent. "You okay?" Mokuba asked gravely as he approached.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugged it off. "Just upholdin' yer brother's reputation."

"We heard." Noa commented, a sardonic half-smile on his face. "I think everyone heard."

Jounouchi groaned. "Great. Just great." He could just see the head lines in the penny dreadfuls now, ‘Kaiba Mogul Fucking Genetic Reject’.

Course, that was Jounouchi all over. Insults to his face? Fine. Insult a friend, even if you were another friend? You were going down.

Although Honda was right, when had he started thinking of Kaiba as a friend? Sometime before he got all doggish or afterwards?

"Relax." Mokuba looped an arm around him as he walked in the door, Noa doing the same on his other side. Even though he couldn't feel the green-haired boy, the gesture was appreciated. "'Niisama thinks it's fun to bait the tabloids occasionally. It'll be fine."

"Says you." He grumbled as Mokuba shut the door behind him. Noa chuckled.

"Actually." Mokuba grinned. "I have some ideas."

Wonderful. Jounouchi groaned softly to himself. “Please. Don’t tell me them.”

And to think, the day had started out so promising....

 

+++  
+++

 

It was strange, how much Seto looked forward to the end of the day. It used to be that the end of the day simply heralded a change in location, he worked no matter if he was at the mansion or at Kaiba Corporation headquarters. But now that Kaiba Corporation was under his authority, with no Big Five attempting to wrest control and Industrial Illusions no longer under Pegasus, things were a bit quieter. He didn't -have- to work twenty-four seven anymore just to tread water, and that in and of itself was a relief.

It also meant that he got to spend more time with Mokuba. And by default, Jounouchi too. Which oddly enough, he also looked forward to, almost as much as spending time with his brother...

... Or something.

He set those thoughts aside as unfruitful and stepped out of the elevator into the parking lot where the limo waited.

"KAIIIIIBBBBAAAAAAAH!!!" An unfamiliar voice screamed. Reflexes took over and he dodged the attack, spinning to face his attacker.

Only to find Jounouchi pinning down a complete stranger to the concrete floor, one hand clamped over the other man's mouth. The bodyguard had appeared out of no where.

"Okie-dokey." The blond grinned, showing too many teeth to Seto's would-be attacker. "Now. Maybe you could be kind enough to explain why you're attempting to attack people in this nice dark area here."

Jounouchi removed the muffling hand. "He destroyed my village!!!" The man shouted. "Slaughtered my family!!!"

The hand was put back over the man's mouth. "Right, then." The blond's voice was unnaturally calm and cheerful. "Question for you. How?"

Hand was removed. The man glared for a moment, as if sensing a trap or not understanding the reasoning of the question before answering. "Tanks. Guns and soldiers. Had Kaiba Corporation plastered all over them. What does it matter?! HE-" Hand put back over mouth.

"Right." Jounouchi took a breath. "Now I think there's been a slight mix-up here. Ol' Blue Eyes here is Kaiba -Seto-. He's the guy who took all those tanks and shit and got rid of them. He makes toys. Children's games. The one you want to kill, maim, disfigure, destroy is Kaiba -Gozaburou-. That's the guy who built the tanks and shit. You'll find him at the cemetery in town."

Seto could see the man's eyes widen from where he stood. Jounouchi removed his hand. "How?" The man asked.

"He kinda threw himself out of a top story window when Seto here took over the Corporation. No more guns, no more tanks. Seto's destroyed them all. They're not going to hurt anyone again."

The man visibly shook as the news sunk in. Behind them, security officers showed up. Jounouchi got up as they grabbed hold of the man and escorted him away with quite a few apologies to Seto for such an event occurring.

Jounouchi brushed the knees of his pants off, looking like he hadn't just wrestled a knife away from someone who had attempted to kill Seto with it. Not that Seto couldn't have handled it, but...

"Ya okay?" Jounouchi asked.

"I'm fine." Seto watched as they dragged the man away in silence. He was conscious of Jounouchi's measuring gaze upon him, but the blond held his tongue for once. "I'm not a kind man." Seto finally said. "Nor am I a nice one. I've done horrible things."

"I know." Jounouchi casually stuck his hands in his pockets. The hard glint in his eyes was anything but casual however. "I haven't forgotten Death-T."

Seto flinched as if he'd been physically struck. Not one of the higher points in his life, hiring assassins and outfitting them with real weaponry, lethal games, the serial killer Chopman. Prior to that, kidnapping and virtually torturing Yuugi's Grandfather before tearing up his Blue Eyes White Dragon card.

He'd done worse, to gain his three Blue Eyes White Dragons. Deals with the Mafia. Bankrupting one man. Driving another to suicide.

Seto had never actually killed a person, but it was only out of sheer dumb luck. He was however, a contributing factor to several people's death. Those deaths now weighed on his consciousness.

Jounouchi tapped him on the shoulder with the knuckles of one hand. "You've changed since then. You're not that person anymore. C'mon, Mokuba's waiting."

The blond sauntered casually to the car, apparently unaffected by what had just transpired.

Seto followed, not so certain he wasn't.

 

+++  
+++

 

Kaiba wasn't paying attention.

This in and of itself was a novel experience. Ol' Blue Eyes was -always- paying attention, even if he didn't look like it. And while Jounouchi appreciated the chance to see Kaiba zoning out for a change like a normal human, he really would have rather preferred it wasn't during sparring practise.

Because Kaiba was a bitch to spar with, even if Jounouchi was beating him about half the time now in their matches. But sparring was often just as much a mental game as it was a physical one; finding weaknesses, making plans. And right now, Kaiba wasn't seeing him at all. He was fighting something in his head instead.

And that, Jounouchi mused as he ducked a blow, was dangerous. Dangerous cause Kaiba's moves were sloppy and sloppy meant someone could get hurt.

"Hold!" He called, putting his arms down and relaxing his posture, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.

And completely missed the fist that impacted into his face as he attempted to block the kick. "Dammit!" He grabbed Kaiba and rolled him, pinning Ol' Blue Eyes to the ground. "I. Said. HOLD."

Kaiba stared up at him as if surprised to see him. "What?"

Jounouchi felt a growl rising out of his throat and did his best to choke it back. He wasn't a -dog-, dammit. "Come back and talk ta me when ever you've what's on yer mind figured out." He sat up, rubbing the area he could already feel the bruised tissue starting to swell with the back of one hand. "In the mean time, I ain't yer punchin' bag."

He rolled to his feet, stalking out of the room as fast as his temper would let him. Part of his brain informed him that Kaiba had appeared to be reaching for him when he left, but he brushed that thought aside as wishful thinking.

Stupid, stupid, stupid... He stomped into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of frozen something out of the freezer and pressed it to his face. The cold stung, but it was a familiar sensation, an old friend he hadn't felt in a while. He was getting frikking soft, that's what it was. Forgetting that just cause he was starting to get to know Kaiba didn't mean Kaiba was less of a jerk.

He sighed. Dammit. Stupid temper. Really was his worst fault. Yuugi would have figured out something was wrong earlier and would be able to figure out what was going through Kaiba's mind. If Kaiba had a mind.

But no... Jounouchi thought with his fists first, then his head.

This also meant that he couldn't spend the day at Yuugi's, cause the spiky-haired boy would worry about him and Kaiba, regardless if he explained the bruise or not. And Jounouchi was a terrible liar anyway. Even if all he said was that he got it during sparring, Yuugi would read more into it and he'd spend the whole day being mother-henned.

Which wasn't always a bad thing, just Not Right. Fracking. Now.

When the hell had his life gotten so complicated? Used to be, he got into a brawl, got bruised and bloody, he and Honda would patch each other up, life went on. No one commented on a random bruise or cut. Cause it was just 'That Punk Jounouchi', so no one cared.

But now he had both Yuugi and Mokuba, and to some extent Noa, watching over his shoulder, making sure that he didn't get hurt. He had people that worried about stuff like scraps and bruises and if he was eating right and that was just painfully weird. But in a good way.

Speaking of people, he needed to make sure Mokuba was up and getting ready for school. Brat would sleep in, given half a chance.

He gave it half a thought, then grabbed breakfast to eat in his room so he didn't run into Kaiba before Ol' Blue Eyes went to work. It was probably cowardice on his part to be avoiding the billionaire, but there was also a such thing he was slowly learning called 'Picking Your Fights'.

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba sighed, absently kicking at his chair leg as he picked at his food. Sitting next to him, at the head of the table, 'Niisama did the same. He'd hardly eaten anything all night, and said even less.

Which just seem to draw more attention to the fact that the seat across from Mokuba was empty. The three of them usually at dinner together, 'Niisama at the head of the table, Mokuba sitting on his right and Jounouchi to the left. It was a long table in a huge room, and everyone together helped make it smaller, less empty.

Where ever Jounouchi was hiding, Mokuba was sure that he wasn't saying much either. He'd been quiet when he dropped Mokuba off at school this morning and even more quiet on the way back.

Which probably had something to do with the black eye the blond was sporting.

"You should apologise to him." He commented softly.

Noa had noticed the change in behaviour as well and had kept an eye on 'Niisama and Jounouchi throughout the day, from his limited access to the Kaiba mainframe. 'Niisama had worked like he always did; like it was the end of the world if he didn't finish what was on the desk. But Noa had noticed that occasionally 'Niisama would pause and stare into space. Not often, and not for long, but it was strange behaviour for those that knew him.

Jounouchi had hidden himself away in a computer lab he had access to in the Kaiba Corporation headquarters, looking things up on the internet. They had a few servants, not like the fleet before they'd had before Death-T, that came in during the day to keep the house clean and cook dinner. The fewer people with access to their house, the less of a security risk. But it meant that Jounouchi had to hide his mutations in the house if he was home when they were, something that rubbed the blond the wrong way, hence the hiding at headquarters.

The only time Jounouchi had left the lab, other than to pick up Mokuba, was to go up to 'Niisama's office and leave a sandwich and some juice for 'Niisama while 'Niisama had been out of the office for a business meeting.

He almost wished Noa had been able to hack into their security, just for a photograph of 'Niisama's face when he'd found the food.

'Niisama frowned at him. "What makes you think I need to apologise to anyone?" He growled, but it was a weak attempt at best by 'Niisama's usual standards.

Mokuba smiled back. "Because if Jounouchi had done something bad, you'd be angry instead of looking like someone else had kicked your dog."

On second thought, he didn't need a photograph, because 'Niisama's face when he found the sandwich was probably similar to the expression he had now.

"I'm going to go do my homework." Mokuba announced, scooting his chair back and standing up. He grabbed his dinner plate as he did so, pausing long enough to kiss his brother on the cheek before retreating to the kitchen to put the plate in the sink. "G'night, 'Niisama."

He probably could have helped them patch things up, but 'Niisama had to learn sometime how to deal with other people on a personal level, besides just barking orders.

And Jounouchi would probably forgive 'Niisama, once 'Niisama apologised.

Hopefully.

 

+++  
+++

 

Pieces of his heart were missing.

Yuugi, the Other Yuugi had shattered it. Taken it from his chest and broken it into pieces, like a puzzle that had to be put back together again.

But you couldn't complete the puzzle if you didn't have all of the pieces. The puzzle stared at him, holes in it staring back at him, mocking him with their emptiness.

Pieces of his heart were missing. There were holes in his heart. Incomplete.

He reached out, scrabbling around in the dark, trying to find the missing pieces, but there was nothing there. He was alone in the darkness.

Dark....

Seto sat up in bed, wide awake and shaking from the nightmare as cold sweat trickled the back of his neck.

It was an old nightmare, one he'd been having ever since he'd woken up at the end of Duellist Kingdom. Six months. He'd spent six months in that darkness, trying to put the pieces of his heart back together again after Yuugi's Other Self had shattered it.

It was also a nightmare he hadn't had in quite a while. He hadn't had any nightmares to speak of for quite a while. At least none that had actually woken him up all the way. Usually Jounouchi or Mokuba were there, their presence either banishing the dreams entirely, or waking him up enough to drift out of them when he did have them.

He reached out, patting the bed next to him, where he would generally find Jounouchi's warm body, but found cold blankets instead. No Jounouchi, no Mokuba. He was alone.

For a moment, he wondered if he'd woken up at all, there was no difference between waking and dreaming. He was alone with only the darkness either away.

"G'back t'sleep." A familiar voice drawled from the other side of the room.

Seto jumped slightly at the sudden noise, then masked it by reaching for the lamp on the night stand next to the bed. "Jounouchi?!"

The blond was straddling the computer chair next to the desk, blinking slowly at him as his half-lidded eyes adjusted to the light. The blond yawned, his long tongue curling with abnormal flexibility as he did so. "Go back ta sleep.'' Jounouchi repeated, resting his head on his folded arms on top of the chair's back, closing his eyes.

"What are you doing over there?" Seto asked dumbly.

"Sleepin'." Jounouchi growled. "M'not gettin' smacked again."

Oh. He flinched. His fault. ".... I apologise for that."

Jounouchi was quiet and for a moment he thought that the blond had fallen asleep. "... what?"

"I..." Was it really so hard to say? He grabbed the blanket, trapping the fabric in his fists. "I... apologise. For striking you."

They had hit each other before, during sparring. That was the nature of fighting. He'd hit people before too, with his fists, or his metal briefcase, or what ever was lying around. But he'd never struck someone on mischance, there'd always been a reason or a purpose for the action. Some sort of calculation.

Jounouchi's eyes were half-mast, the only sign that he was awake at all was a little glimmer of reflection from under his lashes. "You... don't say that very often, do ya?" The blond murmured, obviously not quite awake.

"I... no." He scrunched up the fabric in his hands more. There were going to be permanent creases in the duvet later. "Rarely is there someone, some -thing- worth apologising for."

The bodyguard -had- said 'hold'. And he'd been too caught up in his thoughts to be paying attention to what they were actually doing.

"Heh." Jounouchi smiled. A slow lazy one that did funny things to Seto's stomach. "All right." The blond raised his head, propping it up with an arm. "You're forgiven. This time. Next time I won't be so easy on ya though."

"Hah." The tone was disdainful, but he could feel a smile of his own trying to creep out. Fortunately, he doubted the blond's night vision was good enough to actually see it.

"Hmm." The fond expression faded from Jounouchi's sleepy face, replaced by a more serious one. "I should apologise too. For bringin' up Death-T. That's not who ya are anymore."

Seto's own smile faded as he gripped the duvet again. "But it is a part of who I am." Not one of the nicer, kinder parts, not that there were many of those, but he believed in being able to look at himself, his past, head on and without flinching. They were all choices he had made with his own will. They had been the wrong choices, but they were still choices he had made. To deny it was both idiotic and futile.

Jounouchi looked at him, and for a moment, he wondered what Jounouchi saw. The angry self-assured boy of five years ago, or the person he was today? A combination of the both?

There were very few people he could say had seen him at his worst and his best and still stood by him. Mokuba was one of them. Jounouchi was another. So was Yuugi, as much as it pained him to admit it.

"Did you ever hear about how Yuugi got his puzzle?" Jounouchi asked, apparently at random.

"No." He relaxed his hands, pressing his palms flat against the wrinkled fabric.

"Yuugi's 'Jiichan gave it to him. To Yuugi, it was his treasure. He worked on it for eight years before he completed it, in order to gain a wish."

He'd gotten a severe case of mystical schizophrenia instead, in Seto's opinion. "Did he get it?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi grinned fondly. "'Something you have seen, but cannot see'."

A riddle. Not his Other Self then, because even the casual observer could see the difference in the two. "I see."

That startled a chuckle out of the blond. "No, ya don't." The words were friendly, taking the sting out of the slight rebuke. "Ask him about it sometime, when he's in a good mood. But m'point is... I spent a lot of time thinkin' about this today. How old were you when Gozaburou adopted ya?"

"Ten." That was an apparently random question.

"That was what, six years before we metcha, right?"

"Yes. I had taken over the corporation six months before I attempted to steal Yuugi's Grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon." An apparently random question to be followed by a completely random thread of conversation.

"Mokuba told me once that yer folks died when you were eight."

"... Yes." That was when he had taken over caring for Mokuba.

Jounouchi's eyes glittered, like he had just spotted a weakness in a player's strategy. "That's eight years."

He was completely missing the point. "So?"

"So... I'd think that at the end of eight years struggling by yourself as a kid ta fix things, you should get a wish of your own."

Seto just stared at Jounouchi. A -Wish-?

"Sometimes..." Jounouchi smiled sadly at him, like he understood the confusion. "Sometimes when dealin' with people, you just have to tell them what you want."

A wish. "And... if the person doesn't want the same thing?" He asked, feeling slightly dizzy, the blood rushing through his head as he stared at the dark fabric of the duvet. It was the night, the lateness of the hour. He'd never consider this even entertaining the question in daylight.

"You won't know until you ask." Jounouchi's voice was soft, almost coaxing. "If you could have one wish... one thing in the entire world... what would you wish for?"

"I...." The business man in him immediately declared wealth. Power. No one could touch him or his if he was powerful enough. If he was strong enough to protect himself and Mokuba.

But Mokuba was growing up now. He was strong in his own way, stronger than Seto. Mokuba didn't need his protection quite as much any more.

"I want..."

And he had all the money he could want. He had more than he knew what to do with really, once you got past all the spread sheets and accountants.

Power he had. Same with Success. Fame, if he so chose to grasp it.

"I wish..."

What did he want? He had everything anyone could want in this day and age. Didn't he?

"...I don't want to be alone."

It took him moment to realise what he said. That he had spoken it at all. Startled, he turned towards Jounouchi, who was looking at him with a bland expression on his face.

Silence. He could feel his heart beat in his chest. Weak, he could hear Gozaburou's voice rebuking him. Weak idiot. The strong never relied on anyone except themselves. That was something a child would say, not a twenty year old man.

But once said, he couldn't take the words back.

Finally, after a small eternity in the near-darkness, Jounouchi let out a small breath. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay." Jounouchi smiled warmly at him. "Go back to sleep, Kaiba."

Seto hesitated, his limbs wanting to move in two directions at once before he finally got co-ordinated enough to lie back down. There didn't seem to be anything further he could think of to say. There was probably something, but his mind was too mixed up to do so at the moment. He turned off the light, pulling the covers up to his neck.

Silence. Just the darkness. Perhaps this really all was just a dream. Wishes didn't happen.

Then the bed moved, Jounouchi's bulk moving to its usual place on the bed. "Stop thinkin' so damn hard." Jounouchi grumbled sleepily. Seto grunted back. How could he -not-. Jounouchi reached out and gave him a slight push, not enough to actually move him, but enough to realise that the blond was in arm's reach. "Keep forgetting yer younger than Mokuba." Jounouchi commented.

"I am not."

"Emotionally, ya are. That time with jerk-face Gozaburou, ya stopped feeling things with yer heart, didn't ya?"

That was... an extremely odd but accurate observation.

Silence was taken as assent. "Right. So you're younger than Mokuba, emotionally." He didn't have to look to know Jounouchi was grinning. "So... really... you're just hitting emotional puberty. Gonna start noticing girls now?"

He reached out and gave Jounouchi a shove of his own, like he had observed when Mokuba, Yuugi and Jounouchi were teasing each other. "Unlikely." For one thing, he had apparently started to notice one person in particular, who happened to be -male-. For another, most women in his acquaintance were only in his acquaintance because they wanted something in one form or another.

... actually, that could be said of most people in his acquaintance.... Although most people in his acquaintance were also employees, and they wanted paycheques.

Jounouchi not quite giggled, but it was the closest description Seto could think of for the happy sound. The sound faded, replaced by silence again. It wasn't an all consuming silence like it had been when he'd woken up, it was more of a muted sensation.

He belatedly realised he hadn't removed his hand from Jounouchi's side either. "You can sleep under the blankets." He growled, trying to find some sense of equilibrium again. "If you want."

The blond stirred slightly, probably mostly asleep again. "Ask me that..." Jounouchi yawned. "... on some other night. It's been a long day."

Part of him was bizarrely grateful. If Jounouchi had taken him up on his offer to actually -share- the bed, he would probably wonder later if it had been a lapse in judgement in a moment of weakness. The rest of him, however, was illogically disappointed.

"G'night, Kaiba." Jounouchi whispered, his voice heavy with sleep, one of his hands resting on Seto's arm, trapping it there. "Pleasant dreams."

"Sleep well, Jounouchi." He listened as Jounouchi's breathing evened out, falling into its usual night time pattern. And eventually he fell asleep listening to it.

When he woke up again, moments before his alarm went off as was his usual wont, he was certain that he had dreamed the whole thing, a sign of an over taxed mind brought on by an extremely stressful day.

Except that when he rolled over, he found Jounouchi still on his bed, fast asleep on top of the duvet, still holding on to Seto.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Every so often..." Mokuba smiled lazily at 'Niisama, who was fast asleep next to him. It was movie night and 'Niisama had joined them without any hesitation this time, sleeping on the futons they set out on the floor as if this was a normal occurrence for him instead of the first time he'd joined them voluntarily, without pleading or begging on their parts. Jounouchi was half-sprawled on 'Niisama, half sprawled on Yuugi, as if he couldn't decide who he wanted to sleep on and was forming a bridge between the two. "...I want to take a picture of them like this and sell it to the tabloids. 'Niisama would kill me, but I'd make a fortune."

Yuugi chuckled softly. "Your brother would kill you, but not for selling it to the tabloids. He'd kill you for the pack of women with ice picks who would start following him around with hearts in their eyes, once they realised that he's not entirely made of ice."

Mokuba almost took offence to the comment when he realised that Yuugi was gently poking fun at the image 'Niisama appeared to have to the public. -They- knew that 'Niisama wasn't made of ice, but not many people ever got close enough to find that out.

He grinned instead, propping his head up on an arm up as Noa floated past him, fast asleep. Another change in Noa since his rebirth, his other brother actually slept now. While Noa's virtual body didn't need the recharge that sleep brought, Mokuba had read that part of the sleep cycle was important to replenishing the brain. If the brain didn't get a chance to stop and reboot occasionally, the person went insane.

Which is probably something neither Gozaburou nor Noa himself had put into their calculations. Noa had been awake for several years without a break, there had never been a chance for his psyche to rest, reflect on events and recharge. So now Noa slept. And occasionally dreamt as well, although Mokuba didn't know how he did that, there was nothing in the programming to explain it.

Yuugi had one of Jounouchi's hands trapped, idly holding on to it. Yuugi and Jounouchi were usually that way. As soon as they saw each other, they were constantly in each other's personal space, touching or at least brushing up against each other, like making sure the other one was still there. He'd noticed an increase in physical contact since Jounouchi's... accident, the blond had acquired a habit of leaning against people, like a large dog would. But with Yuugi, it seemed to be more than that. "So." Mokuba grinned. "You and Jounouchi. Are you dating?"

It took a second for the words to sink in, and once they did, the blush coming from Yuugi's face was almost bright enough to be used as a secondary light source. "I... uh... no... It's.... We're -not-..."

Mokuba chuckled. He hadn't thought they were, but sometimes the best way to get information was the blunt route. Not that he couldn't be subtle when he wanted to be. But he wasn't blind... and sometimes 'Niisama would -watch- Jounouchi, not like the blond was being a moron, but like Jounouchi was something he couldn't figure out.

'Niisama wasn't stupid. 'Niisama would figure out what 'Niisama wanted sooner or later. And when he did... well, Mokuba hoped that it would end up all right.

Which was why Mokuba was asking questions now. He couldn't, and wouldn't, give his brother everything, but he could smooth out a few things in advance, hopefully make it a smoother ride.

Besides, it was fun teasing Yuugi.

Yuugi glared at him, which was always an amusing sight because Yuugi really wasn't that scary looking. Except for when he was scary, and then he was down right terrifying. "You were trying to make me blush."

"Sorta." Mokuba grinned and admitted with a shrug. "So if you're not dating, is it just casual sex then?"

"MOKUBA!" Yuugi hissed, looking mortified. However, he still did not let go of Jounouchi's hand.

"What?" Mokuba did his best innocent impression. "I'm just askin'. Every time I see you two together, you're all over each other."

"Yes... but..." Yuugi sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the rumble in his voice was eerily reminiscent of his Other Self. "It is -not- about sex, Mokuba-kun."

The words to ask what it was about were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back as Yuugi's eyes closed again, tightening his grip on Jounouchi's hand. "He used to be for me what your brother is to you." Yuugi growled.

'Niisama... 'Niisama wasn't his -everything- anymore, Mokuba had grown and didn't rely on 'Niisama as much as he had when he was younger, but 'Niisama was still a large portion of his life. 'Niisama was his family, his guardian, his protector. The pillar of sanity he clung to when everything else seemed to be falling apart.

"Have you ever met someone and felt like you've found a missing piece of yourself?" Yuugi let go of Jounouchi, looking down at his own hand as if he were examining a foreign item. "Mou hitori no boku... My Other Self. When he left... half of me left."

Yuugi wasn't just being poetic when he said that. Atemu, Yuugi's Other Self had been Yuugi's shadow, inside Yuugi's head, in his life for over two years. Two people in one body. To talk to one was to talk to both. To go from being as close to two persons can be to... nothing, from 'We' to 'I', would be devastating. Like if he lost 'Niisama, only worse.

"Anzu... was in love with my Other Self, Honda-kun didn't understand why the adventure ended, Bakura-kun had his life back from the Tomb Robber..." Yuugi pulled down the black wrist band that covered his wrist, staring at the pale skin there for a moment. "Jounouchi-kun stayed with me after my Other Self left. He wouldn't leave me alone, no matter what I said or did. He started sleeping in my room, worried about me."

Mokuba's eyes widened as he tried to remember the last time he'd seen the spiky-haired Duellist without dark bands around his wrists, and failing. "Yuugi... you..."

Yuugi smiled sadly at him. "Egyptians didn't view suicide with the stigma that we do today. To them, Death was a release, merely a passage from this world into the next. In the afterlife, if you passed the judgement of Ma'at, your heart weighted was lighter than the feather of truth, you got to live with your loved ones in Aaru, in the afterlife."

"Yeah... but..." He couldn't say that he didn't believe in magic or some sort of an afterlife, because after everything with the Sennen Items, he figured there sure as hell was something else out there.

"Jounouchi-kun doesn't know." Yuugi said finally, putting his hand back down and intertwining his fingers with Jounouchi's lax ones. The blond made a soft sound, shifting closer to Yuugi. "He was asleep. And... I wouldn't be able to face Ma'at or my Other Self if I left him alone."

Like his Other Self had left him behind. And it made sense, in a strange sort of way, that Yuugi would follow the Egyptian way of life, as well as believe in their way of the afterlife. Although killing oneself would seem to him like it would sure weigh your heart down, especially against something as light as a feather.

"And it'd be a lot like forfeiting the game before you finished." Mokuba added.

"That too." Yuugi agreed. "So now, to me... He is what you are to your brother."

Mokuba was... 'Niisama's most important person. He knew that. But he was also the one who made 'Niisama smile, reminded 'Niisama that it was okay to be human.

"I'm sorry." Mokuba whispered, feeling slightly ashamed. He had heard about Yuugi's Other Self leaving... but he'd never -thought- about the impact it would have on Yuugi. He'd had 'Niisama back and life was returning to 'normal'. No more God cards, no more ghosts, no more monsters coming to life. No more epic battles.

"It's all right." Yuugi smiled peacefully back. "I'll see my Other Self again. Just... not so soon. In the meantime, Jounouchi-kun keeps an eye on me."

Mokuba nodded. "What is 'Something you have seen, but cannot see'?"

A startled look flew across Yuugi's face. Mokuba shifted uncomfortably. "It's something Jounouchi was talking to 'Niisama about the other night. He said that when you solved the puzzle, you got a wish, 'Something you have seen, but cannot see'. I think I've heard it before, but I can't remember."

He'd been worried about 'Niisama after hearing the comment Jounouchi made about Death-T. Mokuba had been silently grateful when he'd seen Jounouchi slip into 'Niisama's room, keeping watch over 'Niisama. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but after 'Niisama woke up, he couldn't go back to bed either, not without them hearing him curled up outside the door.

Yuugi smiled, his eyes going distant. "When I solved the puzzle the first time... I wished for friends. Good friends, who would stay by me through thick and thin."

"And you got Jounouchi."

"And my Other Self. And all my other friends. But... Jounouchi was the first. He said he also had a treasure, 'Something you have seen, but cannot see', which was our Friendship. I never told him what my wish had been." Yuugi petted Jounouchi almost absentmindedly. "It has crossed my mind that if I had asked for a lover when I was younger, maybe my Other Self wouldn't have left. But I am if not happy, then I am at least content with the way things are now."

"Jounouchi..." Mokuba swallowed. "Jounouchi offered 'Niisama a Wish."

Yuugi's eyes went wide as he looked up, purple eyes almost flickering to red, then back again. "Did he now."

"'Niisama said he Didn't Want to be Alone." The words came out in a rush, like if he didn't get them out now, he was never going to be able to say them. He blushed when he finished, resolutely staring at the blanket and not at 'Niisama, Jounouchi, Noa or Yuugi. That had been half a week ago... and after that, Jounouchi had stopped going into his own room to sleep at night. He went straight into 'Niisama's room to sleep and stayed the entire night.

'Niisama hadn't commented about it either. He seemed surprised the first night, but not unpleasantly. That was probably why 'Niisama had joined them tonight without complaint... If he didn't want to be alone, part of that was that he had to reach out to people too.

And Mokuba didn't want to know what would happen if 'Niisama put Jounouchi into a place that forced Jounouchi to choose between 'Niisama and Yuugi. Hopefully 'Niisama was smart enough to realise that by doing that, 'Niisama would lose, no matter what the final decision was.

"Good for him." Yuugi murmured softly, and Mokuba wasn't entirely sure which one Yuugi was commenting on.

"Do you... Do you know why Jounouchi did that?" Mokuba asked, frowning. "He... 'Niisama could have -said- anything. Jounouchi left himself wide open, he could have been really hurt by that."

"Kaiba-kun wouldn't do that." Yuugi assured him.

Mokuba cringed internally. Yuugi had such faith in people, sometimes it was hard to live up to that. "Yeah, but..."

"He's like me." Jounouchi commented, causing both of them to jump. Mokuba would have -sworn- that the blond was fast asleep. Jounouchi reached out and pulled Yuugi towards him, so that Yuugi was using Jounouchi's chest as a pillow, even as Jounouchi used 'Niisama as a pillow.

"Jounouchi-kun?" Yuugi questioned, shifting to rest more against the blond's bare chest. Jounouchi had a habit of sleeping without a shirt on or just in his boxers, something Mokuba knew slightly disturbed 'Niisama, who never went anywhere without being as completely covered up as he could.

Jounouchi sighed, a long tired sound. "Me and Ol' Blue Eyes here, we're not so different really. If I'd grown up with Mokuba and Gozaburou, or if he'd grown up with my folks and Shizuka... we'd probably would have turned out exactly like the other one is now."

Yuugi frowned slightly at the blond. "Jounouchi-kun..."

"It's true." Jounouchi shrugged, causing 'Niisama's shirt under Jounouchi's shoulder to ride up. "Only he's never killed someone before."

Mokuba sat up, nearly putting his head through Noa's floating body. "What?!"

He'd been through all of Jounouchi's records, he'd -know- if Jounouchi had killed someone. There were a few reports on his police records --now sealed-- for getting into fights and being a juvenile delinquent, but nothing for -murder-.

"Death-T." Jounouchi commented softly, Yuugi wrapping an arm around him. "Chopman. I killed him. Yeah, at the time it was kill or be killed, but now I wonder if I couldn't have done something differently."

Mokuba opened his mouth to protest it, and then shut it, unable to say anything. He and 'Niisama had put Jounouchi, Yuugi and the rest of their friends in a situation where they had to make the choice to live or die... usually at someone else’s expense. And Jounouchi had done what he had needed to for both himself and his friends to live.

Jounouchi gave him a weak smile. "Your brother's not the only one who has nightmares. I'd thought I'd forgotten about it, but it came back recently. I checked your records that day I was quiet, he died pretty quick."

"I..." He hadn't -known-. Mokuba had been dealing with getting ready for his own match with Yuugi while that had been going on, then dealing with his suddenly comatose brother. He'd made sure that Death-T had been dismantled and everything taken care of, but he'd been so caught up in trying to keep Kaiba Corporation alive while his brother was a zombie that he'd never thought of what that entailed.

"Done some other things when I was younger that I'm not proud of." Jounouchi continued, looking up at the ceiling. "Sent a lotta people to the hospital in fights before I became friends with Honda. Couple o' times afterwards too. Broke a guy's jaw once cause he stole Yuugi's puzzle. We all got things we ain't proud of. S'part of life. Ya just gotta learn from it and carry on the best ya can."

Yuugi buried his head against Jounouchi's shoulder. "Jounouchi-kun..."

Jounouchi gave Mokuba a long suffering look, brown eyes sparkling in amusement. "I've told Yuugi tons of times he can call me by my given name, and does he? Nooo... has to be all polite and stuff."

Yuugi blushed, the hand Mokuba could see clutching Jounouchi. "I..."

"Don't ya dare say yer sorry." Jounouchi snapped. "Any o'you. Toldja, we all make choices in our life. I made mine and I'm livin' with 'em, just like you're livin' with yers."

Sometimes, Mokuba wondered if under the shaggy mop of blond hair, Jounouchi wasn't a -hell- of a lot smarter than he let on. "You haven't given me permission to call you by your given name." Mokuba pretended to pout.

"Yeah, but you're a brat." Jounouchi retorted with a grin. "You'd call me what ever you wanted without askin'."

"Point." He would too. Although he'd stopped referring to Jounouchi as 'That Bastard' -ages- ago. "Hey, Jounouchi?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know why 'Niisama's taken to wearing bracers all the time?"

Jounouchi peered at him, look slightly suspicious. "Yep."

Mokuba waited. Jounouchi didn't say anything, just idly rubbed Yuugi's back. Yuugi curled closer to him, burrowing against him. After a while, Mokuba realised that he wasn't going to say anything either. He sighed. "You're not going to tell me."

"Nope."

"Is it anything I should worry about?"

Jounouchi thought it over. "Prolly not." The blond gave him a serious look. "You can ask him if ya want, but I think it's something he doesn't want you ta worry about."

"Hence, he keeps it covered."

"Yup." Jounouchi rubbed Yuugi's back some more, almost like the blond with dog attributes was petting the smaller person. "But it's not for the same reasons Yuugi keeps his wrists covered, ya don't hafta worry about that."

Yuugi stiffened, including his hair, which seemed to spike up like a hedgehog's. Jounouchi twisted his head around to press a kiss against Yuugi's head, muttering something soft that only the two of them could hear. If Mokuba hadn't just had the conversation with Yuugi about if he and Jounouchi were sleeping together, he would have sworn they were. Guys weren't usually that touchy-feely or intimate with each other.

Course, most guys didn't used to have a second soul in their body, or have dog ears, so what did he know? One of his brothers had died twice already and was a virtual construct while the other had been running a multi-billion dollar conglomeration since before he could legally drive. Hell, he'd had his soul ripped out and put in a card once.

Noa floated over his head, his face serene and Mokuba reached out, his fingers slowly drifting through the image of Noa's body, making his fingers tingle slightly. He wondered if Noa sometimes dreamt of small dark isolated places that he couldn't escape from.

They all had their secrets. "G'night, Yuugi. G'night, Jounouchi." He called, letting his hand drop and pulling the blankets over his shoulders, no longer in the mood to talk.

"Night, Mokuba." Jounouchi called back, Yuugi softly seconding the sentiment. "Pleasant dreams."

"You too." He watched Noa drift by, listening to the soft sound Jounouchi and Yuugi made as they talked, silently musing if androids really did dream of electric sheep.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Tadaima!" Jounouchi called as he escorted Mokuba inside the Kame Game shop. Mokuba was grateful for the blond's assistance, he didn't feel all that great today. "Yo, Yuugi!"

"Yo, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi's 'Jiichan looked up from behind the counter where he was helping some young customers. "He's up in his room. Mokuba-kun, you're not looking so well."

"I feel like crap." Mokuba muttered darkly. Thank you 'Jiichan, for pointing out the obvious. It was like he had a heavy malicious weight suddenly clinging to his shoulders. He'd been fine when he woke up this morning, but sometime around lunch he'd started feeling like this.

"Sorry." Jounouchi muttered he ushered Mokuba passed the mob of school kids who were plastered against the shop's cases, staring at the cards.

"Tell Yuugi to come down when he has a chance. I could use some help!" 'Jiichan called after them. Jounouchi waved back.

"Why are we here?" Mokuba muttered. He just wanted to climb into his bed and sleep for a week. But Jounouchi had argued for them to stop by here and he didn't have the energy to argue.

"Cause I somehow ended up with Yuugi's mobile." Jounouchi muttered, pulling him up the stairs. He'd already explained it several times. "And you didn't have to come with me."

"Yes, I did." Mokuba sulked. Once Yuugi and Jounouchi got within a certain radius of each other it was almost impossible to get them apart again. Like human magnets. If he didn't go with, he'd be stuck in the limo for HOURS.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi called as he opened the door to Yuugi's bed room, ignoring Mokuba’s whinging. The short spiky-haired duellist was sitting at his desk, sorting through a stack of Duel Monster cards. "I got your phone!"

"Hey, Jounouchi-kun. Hey, Mokuba-kun.... oh." The pleasant expression on Yuugi's face faded as he looked at Mokuba. "You don't look so good."

"So I've heard." He growled. Could people –please- stop saying that?!

"We're just stopping by to drop off your phone and pick up mine." Jounouchi explained, picking his mobile phone off of the desk and putting Yuugi's back. Mokuba never should have given them matching phones, but with Noa calling Yuugi to talk frequently, it made sense to give Yuugi a company phone too. The gaming shop didn't make that much money and phone bills could quickly get costly while it was easy enough for Mokuba to write the phone off as a business expense.

Yuugi walked over to him, putting his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "Yuugi?" Mokuba questioned, vaguely worried.

Vaguely worried upgraded to near total panic as a glowing eye appeared in the middle of Yuugi's forehead, blinding him. He screamed as a feeling of some sort of -force- or -pressure- ripped through him.

It faded as abruptly as it came. "Huh." Yuugi commented mildly, looking at a card in his hand. "Someone certainly didn't like you."

"What?" Mokuba blinked, taking a step back. The tiredness he'd been feeling was gone, as if someone had flicked a switch, or taken a weight off his back.

"Yuugi..." Jounouchi was giving Yuugi a suspicious searching look, the blond's posture tense. "You've been holding out on us, haven't you?"

Yuugi flinched, looking nervous. "Um..."

Mokuba grabbed the card out Yuugi's hand. "Onmen No Killer Doll." He read out loud, glancing at the psychotic puppet looking doll in the picture. "Attack, 1600. Defence 1700. Four Stars, it's a 'Fiend/Effect' card." He gave Yuugi a serious look. "I've never heard of this card."

"No." Yuugi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "You wouldn't. It didn't exist before a few minutes ago."

"I thought only holders of the Sennen items could make cards." Jounouchi frowned. "Way back in Egypt, some sort of mystical hoo-doo that required several of them."

Yuugi closed his eyes. "The Ankh to see the Darkness in the person's heart, the Eye to draw that Darkness out and give it form and the Rod to seal it in the stone tablets, yes." He repeated, resting a hand on his belly, where the puzzle had rested for so long. When he opened his eyes again, they were that near-ruby colour, like dark garnets. "I have my Other Self's memories of the time, Jounouchi-kun."

"Looks like that's not all ya got." Jounouchi grinned, slinging an arm around Yuugi's neck. Yuugi blinked, looking up at him, his eyes returning to their usually friendlier shade of violet.

"Do you have any more of these cards?" Mokuba asked, ideas flickering through his head.

"Um... yes..." Yuugi went back to the desk, quickly sorting the cards he'd been looking at and placing some of them on a black handkerchief. He handed the handkerchief, cards and all to Mokuba. "Be careful with them."

The fabric was silk, smooth and clinging to his fingers. He sorted through the cards, looking at the art and reading the stats. Spell cards, Monster cards, Trap Cards, Effect cards... "I... I've never heard of any of these."

"No." Yuugi agreed, looking wistful. Jounouchi pulled the smaller man closer to him. Yuugi smiled at him, looking relieved. "When Jounouchi first disappeared after Mokuba-kun hired him, I would sometimes go out walking at night. After my Other Self left... I started seeing Duel Monsters everywhere. Some were nice... some not so nice. One tried attacking me... and that happened. Later, one of the nicer ones invited me to do the same..."

Yuugi shrugged, leaning against Jounouchi. "My Other Self's people thought that the monsters came from the shadows in people's souls. I guess... it passes them on to the next realm or it gives them a solid connection to this one. I don't know. Not all of them come directly from people, sometimes it's a malicious aura or energy hanging around."

"Like what happened with me." Mokuba mused. He'd been doing well in school again, a little too well, and several of his classmates weren't happy about it. A killer doll sounded about the right mentality for some of them too. Wasn't that called the 'Evil Eye' or something? Passing a curse on to someone by glaring at them? He made a mental note to look into researching that later. "And the cards?"

"I don't know." Yuugi said apologetically. "I guess it's a familiar form for the magic to take."

"I see." Plans began forming. "May I borrow these? I'll return all of them, undamaged."

Yuugi looked hesitant and it was Mokuba's turn to be apologetic. "I can't tell you why right now." He said sincerely. "Trust me? Please?"

"All right." Yuugi nodded, releasing Jounouchi to take the cards back, wrapping them in the black handkerchief. He put them in the golden box that had formerly held the pieces of the Sennen Puzzle. He paused, hand resting on the box's lid before handing it to Mokuba. "I trust you to take good care of these."

Mokuba nodded, firm and resolute. He was holding pieces of people in his hands, he'd be -damn- careful. "We'll see you tomorrow. C'mon, Jounouchi."

"Right." Jounouchi gave Yuugi a quick hug, messing up Yuugi's spiky hair. "Oh, and 'Jiichan needs your help with the store downstairs."

"No, he doesn't." Yuugi shook his head. "The after school crowd just wants to hear stories or challenge me to duels. I'll just make it worse right now."

Yuugi was a celebrity in Duelling circles, something that seemed to embarrass the small duellist. Stories from Duellist Kingdom, Battle City and some not so true stories that were apparently made up were passed around like he was some sort of super hero. 'Niisama had fans and stories too, but it didn't effect him as much, he could hide behind his security guards and skyscraper. And bad-ass attitude.

"Right. Will pass that on. Later, Yuugi!" Jounouchi waved, following Mokuba out of Yuugi's room and back downstairs into the store.

"You're looking better, Mokuba-kun!" 'Jiichan hollered as they quickly scrambled through the crowded store.

"Thanks, 'Jiichan!" Mokuba waved, diving out of the door.

Jounouchi was on his heels, calling over his shoulder that Yuugi said that Jiichan was on his own. Jiichan's response was loud, but indecipherable over the noise of the customers.

"Kaiba Corporation Headquarters." Mokuba ordered the driver as they scrambled inside, Jounouchi shutting the door behind them. "Fast as you can make it."

The acceleration of the car threw them back in their seats. Oh, yeah. Mokuba -liked- this driver. He pulled out his mobile phone and pressed a few buttons, speed dialling 'Niisama's number. "Kaiba." 'Niisama's barked crisply.

"How clear is your schedule?" Mokuba demanded, forgoing the usual pleasantries. 'Niisama took no offence, tapping his keyboard and bringing up his schedule.

"I can move a few things around." 'Niisama said warily. "How important?"

Mokuba petted the cool lid of the ornamental Egyptian box. This probably could wait, but at the same time, if they could pull this off, the sooner they started, the better it would be. "Reschedule. We'll be there in fifteen."

"Eleven." Corrected the driver, switching lanes with malicious glee. Jounouchi frantically grabbed Mokuba to keep him from toppling over.

"Right. See you then." 'Niisama cut the connection.

Jounouchi whistled, grabbing his seat-belt and wrestling it on. "Whoa. What's going on, Mokuba?"

He smiled apologetically. "I hate to do this to you Jounouchi... but you're probably better off not knowing. At least, right now."

The blond thought it over, then nodded. "Okay. But if you need me...." He let the offer dangle.

"Thanks." Mokuba smiled tensely, gripping the box. Jounouchi nodded, falling into silence which Mokuba was quietly grateful for.

They made it Kaiba Corporation Headquarters in ten and a half minutes. Mokuba was a ball of nervous energy at the end of it, but he had a plan in mind. He bounced out of the car before the driver had even a chance to turn off the engine, barely aware of Jounouchi calling thanks for both of them behind him before the blond trotted to catch up to him.

They caught the express elevator to the top, ignoring the people who mulled around the bottom floor. Jounouchi had his hands in his pockets, watching the ceiling as they sped their way to the top floor. The express elevator tended to make the blond nervous, as he was never entirely sure when it was going to suddenly go sideways. Not that it did it very often, but Mokuba did it just often enough to keep his bodyguard on his toes.

Sometimes it was the little things that kept life entertaining.

The doors opened and Jounouchi was the first one out, keeping an eye out for people who attempted to approach Mokuba. That happened before, people who figured he'd be easier to approach than 'Niisama with an idea, a plea for money or something. Fortunately, no one was around save for 'Niisama's secretary, who smiled at them and waved them through.

Jounouchi opened the door to 'Niisama's office, poking his head inside. "Oi, Blue Eyes." He called. "We're here."

"Punctual, I see." 'Niisama commented blandly, ignoring the nickname. Mokuba had heard Jounouchi call 'Niisama that before, he still wasn't sure if it was intended as a complement, an insult or one of those 'Jounouchi' things. "Thank you, 'Brown Eyes'."

"Welcome." Jounouchi waved Mokuba in, ignoring 'Niisama's attempt at humour. "I'm gonna go take a nap." Probably right in front of the doors, so no one would disturb them, like a good guard dog.

"Thanks, Jounouchi." Mokuba smiled at him as he walked inside. Jounouchi saluted, then shut the door behind him, the door locking with a click. The pleasant expression faded as he stood in front of 'Niisama's desk, knowing better than to take a seat in one of those instruments of torture 'Niisama called chairs.

"You cleared the place for bugs recently?" He questioned instead, putting Yuugi's box on the desk in front of 'Niisama.

'Niisama blinked at him impassively. "Of course." He hit a switch on the side of his desk anyway, a white noise generator to block any possible listening devices they might have missed. "What's this about?"

"Look." Mokuba instructed as 'Niisama took the box and began shuffling through the cards. As 'Niisama's eyes went large, Mokuba began to talk, outlining a Plan.

It wasn't a perfect plan, just the loose outline of one really, but they could fill in the holes later. As 'Niisama listened, he frowned, but nodded in silent agreement as Mokuba talked.

Pegasus had formerly been the person to make all the Duel Monsters cards. From what he'd heard from Yuugi and Jounouchi --he'd been frozen in a card at the time-- Pegasus could see the Monsters, like Yuugi could now, which he then painted into the cards. That was why certain cards had more spirit to them than others, they -had- actual spirits tied to them.

Pegasus had been the Game King, quite literally controlling the game from the background, using Industrial Illusions to do it. They made the cards. They had the copyrights, the patents, everything. Kaiba Corporation made the systems that the cards were played on and held the tournaments, but it was all through contracts with Industrial Illusions.

Industrial Illusions who weren't doing -quite- as well without Pegasus in control.

'Niisama listened, taking private mental notes, until Mokuba was done. He set Yuugi's cards down, rewrapping them in the black silk and put them back in the box, a thoughtful air around him. Mokuba waited as 'Niisama mulled it over. Mokuba was good at reading people, but 'Niisama was the one with the business connections and power.

"You want to take over Pegasus' old company." 'Niisama finally summed it up, his expression bland.

"Well," Mokuba smiled, relaxing as he realised his brother wasn't arguing. "I figured we ought to return the favour."

'Niisama -grinned-.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Come in."

Jounouchi walked into the room and promptly did a double take, his nose wrinkling up. A woman in a sharp business suit that somehow managed to show off all of her not-inconsiderable charms was rising from one of the chairs, reaching out to shake hands with Kaiba.

Kaiba had a pinched look to his face. He shook hands with her politely, removing his hand from hers as quickly as he could while remaining in the bounds of propriety. Jounouchi held the door open for her as the woman sauntered out, the woman obviously checking him out as she left.

"Whew." Jounouchi commented as the door shut behind him. "Someone sure smells like they were looking to get fucked."

For once, Kaiba didn't bother correcting his speech. "I thought something smelled off." He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a can of air freshener and sprayed it around as if it were a talisman to ward off evil stench.

Jounouchi sneezed, the canned scents annoying his nose almost as much as the chemical smell of the woman's pheromones. There were some very real pheromones mixed in there too, but the chemical scent put him on edge.

"I brought-" Jounouchi sneezed again "-lunch. Gah."

"Let's eat outside." Kaiba growled, tossing his laptop into his briefcase and slamming the metal container shut. "This place needs to air out."

Jounouchi sneezed. "Right." He muttered, feeling his nose start to clog up. That took care of the smelling problem. Now he couldn't smell a thing. Geh.

He opened the door for Kaiba, following the man out, debating if he wanted to use one of the napkins as a tissue. He decided against it as he pushed the button for the elevator while Kaiba gave terse instructions to his secretary to air the place out, Kaiba didn't want even a hint of perfume scent remaining.

Ryuu-san got a vindictive look on her face as she agreed. Obviously, she hadn't taken a liking to the woman either. Probably had gotten called 'old' or something. He'd get the story later, they had a Kaiba-story swapping contest going on. Was interesting hearing about Kaiba operating the company when he first took over.

This Kaiba was definitely preferable.

The elevator doors opened and they got in, Kaiba leaning against one of the elevator walls. Jounouchi frowned. "Ya okay?" He questioned. Kaiba rarely leaned on anything, and never while at work. Sometimes when relaxing, but not often.

"Headache." Kaiba said shortly. "It's nothing."

Of course it was nothing. It wasn't a gushing chest wound, his soul hadn't been sucked out and he had all of his limbs. "Right." Jounouchi agreed blandly. Kaiba glanced at him suspiciously, but was distracted by the elevator slowing down. They both pushed off of the walls, standing straight for when the doors opened.

Image may not have been everything, but it was damn close.

They marched through the front doors, Kaiba sending out his best icy 'Bugger Off' aura, Jounouchi glaring and shaking his head at anyone who even looked hopeful at an approach. When Ol' Blue Eyes was in this sort of mood, someone was more likely to get a metal briefcase up the side of the head than a simple greeting.

Sometimes Jounouchi wondered if his job wasn't to protect the Kaiba siblings from everyone else, but to protect everyone else from the Kaiba...

"Where we going?" He asked as Kaiba strode out of the doors and down the stairs, obviously with a destination in mind.

"Park." Kaiba snapped, his stride increasing as if he couldn't get away fast enough. Considering that sometimes work would sometimes quite literally follow him out the doors in the form of a hassled frantic employee, Jounouchi couldn't entirely blame him. "I want some fresh air."

"Works for me!" Jounouchi cheered, trotting a little bit to catch up. Yeah, Kaiba could take care of himself, but Jounouchi hadn't had much of an excuse to visit the park lately himself.

"I'm not tossing a tennis ball for you to catch." Kaiba tossed back.

Jounouchi happily grinned at the comment. Usually Kaiba was over-sensitive to any dog references, more so than Jounouchi was. Kaiba's references to him being a 'Mutt' had disappeared shortly after the accident. At the time he'd been grateful, but now he kind of missed Kaiba's brand of teasing. "Got any Frisbees?"

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly as he realised what he'd said and muttered something softly that may have been an apology. Jounouchi slapped him on the shoulder. "Eh. You worry to much."

"On the contrary." Kaiba said disdainfully. "I think I worry just enough."

"Feh." About business maybe. But that was what Jounouchi was for, making sure that Kaiba didn't work himself to death. So maybe it -wasn't- technically in his job description, but Kaiba sure as heck wasn't going to do it himself.

They made good time to the local park, Kaiba glancing around for a tree that was out of the way and not occupied to sit under. He found one to his liking, but Jounouchi stopped him, wrinkling his nose. "Someone's been using it for a toilet." He muttered, pulling Kaiba over toward a nearby tree that didn't smell like stale urine. Kaiba followed him, looking amused.

"Eat." Jounouchi declared instead, opening up the bag he'd carried in from the cafeteria at Kaiba Corporation headquarters. The food there wasn't half bad. Wasn't exactly gourmet, but wasn't slop either. They made a pretty mean pastrami on rye too.

Kaiba grumbled but took the offered roast beef sandwich. Both of them inhaled the first half of their sandwiches, taking the edge off their hunger before slowing down to a more sedate pace on the second half. Jounouchi pulled out a couple of containers filled with potato salad and some cans of tea, passing one of each to Kaiba.

A traditional Japanese obento probably would have seemed more in character for a business mogul, but Kaiba rarely had the time, or free hand, for a sit down lunch. Hence, sandwiches.

Jounouchi made a point of not eating sandwiches on the weekends.

"Your sense of smell." Kaiba questioned around a bite of potato salad. "How sensitive is it? You could smell that woman's pheromones."

"Yeah." He swallowed, his throat suddenly sort of dry. "But that was really strong. People smell different, depending on what they're feeling. When you're happy, you smell different from than when you're sad or angry. Some scents are stronger than others."

Sometimes, he'd catch Ol' Blue Eyes watching him and there'd be this warm musky smell. Then the scent would shift to the sour acidic scent of fear, or panic, then fade completely. He kind of liked the musky smell, but it was always gone before he could pinpoint what it was.

Kaiba nodded, looking thoughtful. "Enough to track someone?"

"Not quite that good." He mock-growled. "I'm not a blood hound."

"Never thought of you as one." Kaiba replied easily.

"Hm." Jounouchi eyed him warily. He hadn't been aware of noticing people's scents until recently. Either his nose had developed to such a level or he'd just become aware of it. "Ya didn't smell interested back at the office, if that's what you're wonderin'."

If he hadn't been attempting to follow Kaiba's scent, he would have missed the brief shift to fear-scent before it mellowed out to his usual scent. "Her voice was annoying." Kaiba deadpanned.

"Wasn't bad on the eyes though." Jounouchi grinned. Kaiba shot him a glare which made Jounouchi chuckle. "-If I were into that type." He amended easily. No, busty business dominatrix certainly weren't what flipped his switch anymore. Maybe when he was younger, but not anymore.

"Some people do business that way." Kaiba said, looking as uncomfortable as he got. "Sleeping with people to get what they want. I don't want Mokuba to learn to do business that way."

So therefore he didn't do it. Jounouchi nodded. Teach by example, not by 'do as I say'. "Fair enough."

"Feh." Kaiba crumpled up the sandwich wrapper, tossing it into the plastic bag before putting the lid back on his potato salad. "I'm going to close my eyes for a bit." He announced, stretching out on the grass, tucking one arm beneath his head for a pillow. Jounouchi grimaced, but they didn't have anything else to use as a pillow. Well, there was Kaiba's long duster-thing and the shirt around Jounouchi's waist, but Jounouchi couldn't take the shirt off without revealing a very furry pain in the behind and Kaiba wasn't going to be that casual in public.

"Right." Jounouchi commented, leaning against the tree. "I'm just gonna hang out here, if you don't mind." Kaiba grunted in return, not caring what Jounouchi did. Jounouchi shrugged. It wasn't like he could just wander off, leaving the billionaire asleep in the park. Well, he -could-, but he wouldn't. He finished his food, packaged the rest of it up, then watched people for a bit.

After a while he got bored. A nap sounded good too. But that would leave them both unprotected out in public. He pulled out his mobile phone and checked messages instead. Nothing. He checked Kaiba. Fast asleep. Right. Kaiba was out of it. He texted Yuugi, asking him if he could hang out at the park. Mainly for entertainment purposes. If he wanted to watch Ol' Blue Eyes sleep, he could do that at night.

He got no response back. He was just starting to get slightly worried about the lack of response when Yuugi showed up in person, smiling shyly. Jounouchi grinned back and passed Yuugi the last of the potato salad, the two of them talking softly for a while, careful not to wake Kaiba up.

And them being them, this lead to a game of Duel Monsters. Both loathed the idea of putting their cards on the grass and potentially getting them dirty, but Jounouchi didn't want to run the risk of borrowing Kaiba's briefcase and then being accused of corporate sabotage.

So Jounouchi moved to Kaiba's other side and they used Kaiba's chest as a table. It was wide enough, at least up near the shoulders, but it got a little tricky to balance the cards towards the waist. Yuugi tried to argue with him, but gave up after the first round, blushing slightly throughout the entire duel.

The blush faded around the second duel and was gone by the third. It returned in full force when Kaiba woke up at the end of their fourth duel.

"Yo." Jounouchi grinned as blue eyes peered at them in mild confusion. "Got a security guard to pick up Mokuba."

"Who's winning?" Kaiba deadpanned.

"Tie." Yuugi admitted, hastily picking up his cards with light fingers. "Two games each."

"I still owe you, what? Eighty-seven games? From before and during Duellist Kingdom?" Jounouchi grinned. Yuugi made a face.

"You owe me nothing." Yuugi corrected, sliding his cards back into the pouch always on his hip. Jounouchi scooped up his cards, putting them away as well.

Kaiba sat up. "Time?" He requested briskly.

"Work's over, Blue Eyes. Time to go home." Jounouchi smiled. Actually, there was about an hour left before Kaiba usually headed home, but it was good to get Kaiba out of the office for a little while. And if he'd slept this long, he obviously needed it. "You've been working too hard."

The last part was a slight rebuke, both Kaiba and Mokuba were working extremely hard over what ever this secret project of theirs was. Kaiba grunted in return. There was no such thing as working too hard in Kaiba's eyes.

"You're eating dinner with us, I presume?" Kaiba not so much invited Yuugi but took it as a statement of fact. Yuugi glanced at Jounouchi, who nodded.

"Sure." Yuugi agreed.

Kaiba nodded, rising to his feet. Yuugi and Jounouchi quickly followed suite. "Shall we?" He asked.

Jounouchi grinned, slinging an arm around both of his friend's shoulders, grinning brightly. "Sure."

Yuugi smiled. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, but didn't pull away. Yuugi laughed. Kaiba sighed.

"Let's go." Jounouchi pulled them along. "Dinner awaits!"

"... You put up with this for -how- long?" Kaiba deadpanned at Yuugi.

"You get used to it." Yuugi assured him. "But it is our fault. You feed him once and he just keeps coming back for more."

"Hey!"

"Indeed."

 

+++  
+++

 

If there was a hell, Jounouchi mused to himself, this was it.

Or if it wasn't hell, this was a close second. Or third. Or something. But it was definitely rated somewhere in there.

Since Ol' Blue Eyes had realised that yeah, Jounouchi's increased sense of smell included detecting pheromones, he'd decided to take advantage of that fact. Because while humans could produce and -smell- pheromones, they didn't realise they were doing it.

So Jounouchi had been dragged to some lame ass boring hoity-toity high society event to put this ability to use. By finding out who was sleeping with whom. Because knowledge was power, even apparently really stupid random knowledge.

Part of his job had been made easier by getting caught by one of the gossip mongers and getting the dirt on most of the people here. Half the things he didn't know were possible, and that was with a pretty extensive porn collection when he was younger.

... what ever happened to those anyway?

After that it was more of a matter of wandering around figuring out yes, no, yes, yes, yes, no way in hell, no, yes, no, oh my god -where- were their clothes going, no, no, yes and no.

Which was great and all, in the fact that he was getting his assigned job done. Only problem was that sure, he could identify what he was smelling, but just because he logically knew what he was smelling didn't mean that he wasn't unaffected.

The last lap around the room before finding Kaiba was a difficult one. He was just grateful that Mokuba had given him a long front-button coat this time instead of those clear cut high-waisted things he liked to put his brother in.

Now how Kaiba walked around in those tight pants of his and never seemed to embarrass himself was beyond Jounouchi. Maybe Ol' Blue Eyes really did have ice water in his veins or something.

Speaking of Ol' Blue Eyes, he was standing next to the door watching Jounouchi. Kaiba caught his eye, silently asking if he was done. Jounouchi nodded back, keeping his own face impassive. Yes, yes, fack yes he was done. Time to get the hell outta here. All he wanted now was a shower, some time with his right hand and then to crash for eight or so hours.

Kaiba walked towards the elevator, Jounouchi automatically falling into step just behind and to the right of the business man. Finally. Freedom. The elevator doors opened as they approached, a debutante and escort, both very happily toasted, stumbling out. They waited for the drunken couple to pass before entering the elevator and pressing the button to close the doors.

Jounouchi let out a loud sigh of relief when the doors finally did close and the elevator sank towards the bottom floor, the limo and freedom. Kaiba noticed, smirking slightly. Jounouchi wrinkled his nose in return, but smiled back, vaguely amused. He was too familiar with Kaiba's idiosyncrasies to take major offence anymore. It was just the way Kaiba was.

What he wasn't expecting was Kaiba to shift, suddenly looming in front of him, so close their noses were nearly brushing, one of Kaiba's arms braced on the wall next to Jounouchi's head. "Tonight's task was hard on you, wasn't it?" Kaiba murmured throatily, his free hand sliding down Jounouchi's side.

One of the things that -defined- Kaiba was that intense focus he wielded like a living weapon. Usually it was reserved for business deals, duels and morons who quickly left the premises because Kaiba was a Dragon and they themselves were crunchy and good with ketchup.

He never thought about what it would be like to be the centre of that focus. Kaiba was staring at him like there was nothing else around, pinning him down with that gaze as one large hand cupped him through the fabric of the suit. Jounouchi hissed, arching into the contact. Kaiba smirked, blue eyes glowing in satisfaction. "Very hard."

Jounouchi bit his tongue, trying to choke back a whimper as Kaiba moved his hand, sliding it through the gap in the coat, Kaiba's nimble callused fingers brushing Jounouchi's belt, pressing against his straining erection inside. God... he was going to come just from that.

He grabbed Kaiba, pulling the taller man closer to him, one hand entangled in Kaiba's longer coat, the other sliding through Kaiba's hair, yanking the man down for a kiss. Kaiba made a pleased sound, taking the action and turning it into a claim of conquest. Not that Jounouchi was complaining. Hell no, he was too busy making some conquest of his own.

Kaiba fingers found their way past his belt and at the first contact of skin on skin, Jounouchi gasped-

-And sat up in bed, his heart thudding in his ears. It took him a moment to figure out where he was. Not in an elevator coming back from some swanky party, but at the Kaiba mansion, where he usually slept, on Kaiba's bed, right next to Ol' Blue Eyes himself.

"Fuck." He muttered, running a hand down his face. Fuck, fuck fuck fuckity FUCK. One did not have hot wet dreams about their -employers-. Especially not with the -guy- sleeping the sleep of the unmolested -right- fucking next to you.

And his pyjama pants were sticking to him uncomfortably. Ugh. He slowly rolled out of the big bed and crept towards the door, towards his room. Not that he spent much time there anymore, but it was still nice to have a space or a territory that was 'his'.

He walked into his private bathroom and peeled his pyjama bottoms off, setting them in the laundry pile with a grimace as he ran a hand through the mess on the trail of blond hair that started at his navel and thickened to an almost pelt at his groin. Down side to having slightly doggish parts, he tended to leak a lot more whenever he got hard than he did when he was still completely human.

At least he didn't have a furry ass. That would have been the ultimate insult, getting a fuzzy butt.

He washed the pre-come off his stomach, splashed cold water on his face, the shock of it shaking off the last reminders of the dream. He dried off, giving himself a moment before putting on a clean pair of pyjama pants and heading back to Kaiba's room.

He climbed back into the bed with a sigh, stretching out again. "Everything all right?" Kaiba whispered, causing Jounouchi to raise his head in surprise. Kaiba hadn't moved, for a moment he almost thought it was his imagination.

"Yeah." He whispered back, resting his head back down on the pillow that had somehow become 'his'. "Just a weird dream."

"Ah." Kaiba agreed. The billionaire wasn't the only one with stock in unnerving dreams. "...g'night."

"Night, Kaiba." Jounouchi murmured back, taking a deep breath and letting it out. He could smell his own unique scent on the pillow, with a hint of Mokuba's teenage scent on it, from when Mokuba shared the bed as well. He could smell Kaiba's more mature scent, similar to Mokuba's, but still different. Richer, deeper. It was a familiar one now, almost comforting.

-If it didn't remind his little head what it had just been thinking about. He ignored it. Yeah, Kaiba looked like walking sex, all tall, lean lines and prettier than any model Jounouchi had ever seen. He'd thought as much since they were in High School.

But he also knew better than to touch.

Kaiba had his company, his brother and Duel Monsters. Sex, or even lust, didn't come into the equation, much less anything deeper than that. Kaiba was just now slowly opening himself up to having friends and Jounouchi counted himself damn lucky for being allowed this close.

Past that... well... that was what the subconscious and dreams were for.

 

+++  
+++

 

"You're late!" Mokuba scolded Yuugi as the spiky haired duellist ran up, wobbling slightly on his geta. The wooden sandals weren't that difficult to balance on, but it seemed like Yuugi's foot caught every stray stone on the street, tossing his balance off. He would have worn his usual boots or zori --straw sandals-- with the dark purple summer yukata if Mokuba hadn't sent him express instructions along with the clothing for the Summer Obon Festival.

"I'm not late!" Yuugi protested. "You're just early."

"We're the primary sponsors." Kaiba rumbled, his arms crossed as he watched people walk by with obvious disinterest. He wasn't dressed in any leather or black clothing for a change; he was wearing a pale grey yukata with a blue obi for the Festival, the colours similar to his favourite Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Of course we're early."

"Don't mind him." Jounouchi assured Yuugi, slinging an arm around Yuugi's shoulders. He was starting to sense a theme; Jounouchi's yukata was black, with a red obi. "He's just cranky that he couldn't find a Blue Eyes White Dragon balloon that wasn't the Toon version."

Kaiba snorted. "Fucking Pegasus."

Yuugi privately thought that it had nothing to do with either Pegasus or Kaiba, but the fact that the Toon version was a lot less detailed, therefore easier to reproduce in a balloon.

"You're wearing everything I sent you, right?" Mokuba asked, inspecting Yuugi much like a mother hen would worry over a chick. Which considering that Mokuba was about Yuugi's height, even with the geta, was rather amusing.

"Of course." He turned so Mokuba could see that the small silver device was attached to his light purple obi as he'd been instructed. If Kaiba was his Blue Eyes White Dragon and Jounouchi was his Red Eyes Black Dragon, then Yuugi was dressed as his Black Magician. Yuugi leaned forward to reveal the wire-thin head band with two strange little devices attached that were hidden in his hair. "That right?"

"We'll find out soon enough." Mokuba said cryptically, patting Yuugi's head before turning towards the park the Summer Festival was being held at, marked by it's boundary of lanterns strung through the trees. It was warm out, even though it was approaching dusk, turning the buildings around them gold.

"He's been workin' on a big surprise." Jounouchi confided as he steered both Yuugi and Kaiba after the youngest Kaiba. Yuugi did a double take as he did so.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi hissed. "You... your ears!" He hadn't noticed because Jounouchi didn't hide his... mutations around either the Kaiba brothers or Yuugi, but they were currently in public and Jounouchi's ears weren't hidden.

And a quick glance behind showed that Jounouchi's tail wasn't hidden either, the light-weight summer yukata was cut to allow for the tail. Belated he realised that Jounouchi had been hiding behind Kaiba, ears pressed against his skull to camouflage them.

"I know." Jounouchi muttered. "But-"

A peal of laughter cut off Jounouchi's nervous mutterings. "What do you think?" Noa asked, spinning on his toes, the sleeves of his white yukata flaring out. The green sash around his waist almost matched Noa's hair.

"Noa-kun!" Yuugi grinned. "What are you doing out here?" Noa's yukata was folded left over right, like a ghost or a corpse would wear.

"Same thing Jounouchi's doing." Mokuba grinned, looking pleased with himself. "Hiding in plain sight."

Noa being out in the real world instead of just inside of the computer was a shock in and of itself, but he also had a Kitsune's ears and tail. Mokuba also sported fake tail and ears, but his were the striped tail and grey rounded ears of a racoon-dog, Tanuki. The grey yukata Mokuba wore matched the ears, but the orange obi kept it from being too sombre an outfit.

"Just don't go chasing Yuugi, Jounouchi." Mokuba teased, grabbing Noa's hand. Noa's hand got more solid looking the closer it got to a small contraption that covered half of Mokuba's forearm, looking like a Duel Disk without the playing platform for the cards.

"Eh?" Yuugi glanced up, but wasn't able to see the top of his head.

"Tail, Yuugi." Jounouchi grinned.

Yuugi turned, catching a flicker of something as he did so. He did it again, realising that the device he had attached to his obi was projecting a long thin cream-coloured furry tail of its own, one that split half way into two pale slender tails that darkened towards the tips.

"Two-tailed cats are supposed to be magical." Noa explained softly. "Your ears match your tails. Like a Siamese."

"Ah." Yuugi smiled back. They truly were hiding Jounouchi's unusual characteristics in plain sight. "What about yours, Kaiba-kun?"

Kaiba's eyes momentarily glowed silver, his eyes reflecting the light like a cat's.

"Oh." Yuugi nodded. "Dragon. Good costume."

Kaiba looked highly pleased with himself. He had probably had won the costume debate with Mokuba, even if he had lost the clothing one.

"And you know the best part?" Mokuba bounced, his grin stretching from ear to ear. "Now I have someone to ditch Jounouchi with!!! C'mon Noa!"

The two younger teens dashed off through the crowds that were gathering, laughing happily.

"OI!" Jounouchi roared, chasing after his charges. "Who do ya think yer ditchin!?"

"Bai!" Yuugi waved, watching them go. It was nice to see Mokuba acting his age once in a while, instead of a miniature adult. It was even better that he had a friend he could hang out with too. Even Kaiba seemed amused by the change.

"They'll be playing Hide and Seek all night." Kaiba mused almost fondly. "This was Mokuba's pet project, so there is no doubt that he's already found the best hiding places."

"It's... impressive." Yuugi praised, looking around. The vendor's booths were already doing a brisk trade and people were already gathering, despite the fact that the Festival's entertainment didn't start for another hour.

"Not yet." Kaiba pointed up towards the sky. "But it will be."

Yuugi looked up at the twilight sky, then did a double take. There were vague shadows flying around above the festival. At least one Blue Eyes White Dragon... Lots of traditional monsters, with a few Duel Monsters thrown in. They became more visible as the sun went down, casting the sky into darkness.

"Solid Vision." Yuugi grinned. What was a Summer Obon Festival without a few spirits to give you the shivers? "Like Pom Poko." No wonder Mokuba was dressed as a Tanuki.

"What?" Kaiba looked at him, clearly confused.

"You've never seen Pom Poko?" Yuugi questioned. "It's an old film by Studio Ghibli. Tanuki? A Hundred Demon's March?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I never had much time for movies."

Correction. Kaiba never had much time to be a child and enjoy such things. "We'll have to correct that one of our movie nights." Especially now that Kaiba was no longer hiding from them.

Kaiba shrugged, then changed the subject back to its original topic. "The entire park is rigged with projectors." Kaiba explained, waving a hand around. "Except for items with projection devices, such as Noa and your ears and tail, they can't appear lower than a certain level. So everyone will be safe, even if something happens to the system."

This was something that could only happen in Domino City, Kaiba's city. Yuugi grinned. For all of Kaiba's gruff attitude, he was remarkably thoughtful. "I'm sure people will be talking about it for years."

"Or they'll want us to top it next year." Kaiba looked up at the sky. "I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon."

"I doubt that." He'd been dealing with Kaiba's Solid Vision for over five years now and the novelty hadn't worn off. It still gave him a private thrill, whenever he saw the monsters, -his- monsters appear before him.

Kaiba shrugged it off, a thoughtful frown on his face. Yuugi smiled to himself as he watched the people swirl around them. A few had just started to notice the monsters above them, but instead of reacting in horror, or screaming, they were watching with their mouths open in awe. A few people, most of them who had either decks or Duel Disks on their arm, noticed him and Kaiba walking together and stared at them instead, as if they were royalty.

It would have amused his Other Self.

He didn't get to spend much time alone in Kaiba's company. It wasn't that he was afraid of the larger duellist; it was just that there were usually Jounouchi or Mokuba with them as well, acting as a buffer with their cheerful banter. Privately, Yuugi thought that the other two were trying to protect them in their own way, probably to avoid any possible fights or duels.

"I hear you're playing a Toy, Silence and Shadows deck now." Kaiba commented casually, his version of small talk.

Yuugi smiled back. "Less Toys, more Silence and Shadows." He agreed. "Are you still playing a Dragon and Virus deck?"

"Of course." As if Kaiba would play anything else. The business man paused, and then looked at Yuugi almost nervously. "...I'm not challenging you to a duel." He announced, as if to dismiss any ideas to the contrary. "At the moment."

-Definitely Mokuba's influence. "It's all right."

What would they duel over? Kaiba wasn't the kind to play for fun. The Duellist Champion title? He didn't need it. Kaiba could have it, he wasn't going to contest that claim. He hadn't wanted it to start with.

"Hn." Kaiba grunted. ""People call you 'The King of Games', you know."

Yuugi, Game. Oh, King. Yuugi-Oh, the King of Game. "I ask them not to." Yuugi smiled faintly. "I'm just Yuugi." Just 'Game', no King. He blinked, a stray thought hitting him. "... Is that why I'm a cat today?"

Kaiba looked confused "Cat?"

"Cats were worshipped as Gods in Ancient Egypt." Yuugi explained. "So was the Pharaoh."

He got a glare in return. "No."

Yuugi smiled back, privately laughing. Kaiba's glare didn't scare him, not when he actually knew the proud man. "You were a better Pharaoh than my Other Self was, you know."

"I..." What sounded like an angry retort was suddenly bit off. "What?"

"It's harder to re-build a city or a life, than it is to destroy one." His Other Self had defeated a monster, a Dark Evil, yes. Sacrificed his life and his memories for it.

But the battle had been brief, less than a day, while rebuilding what had been destroyed, homes and lives, would have taken Set's lifetime. Past that, even.

Kaiba looked away. "I thought I had been the High Priest in that mystical claptrap."

"You were our Cousin, our Protector and most importantly, our Friend." Yuugi corrected. Even if Set had made Atemu nervous with his blatant hunger for power. "You ruled after my Other Self was sealed in the puzzle."

"-He- ruled." Kaiba corrected. "Not me. I am not him, just like you are not your Other Self."

Yuugi pondered this for a moment. "True..." He admitted. "But he is a part of me, just like your Other Self is a part of you. And there are some similarities between you and he. You're both better at creation than destruction."

Kaiba made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat, looking away and towards the Solid Vision creatures above them. Kaiba was used to thinking of himself as Dark, and twisted. But the Dark wouldn't be so drawn to him if it weren't for his own bright inner Light.

They made a lap around the park in silence, watching the festival fill up with people. Yuugi was silently glad for Kaiba's company, if for nothing else than to cut a path through the crowd.

A rock band started playing on a side stage, inviting people to dance. There was a tower set up in the middle of the park, the large taiko drums set up on it for the more traditional dancing later.

"I have to go." Kaiba announced as they approached the main stage. "Opening ceremonies and that rot."

"That's fine." Yuugi assured him. "I'll be -oof-!"

"Gotcha!" Jounouchi said gleefully, arms loosely wrapped around Yuugi as he leaned on him, his skin and yukata damp. "Mokuba's already backstage, wanting to know where ya are, Kaiba."

Kaiba grunted in return, striding towards the stage as if to do battle. Jounouchi chuckled, a low amused sound. "He never changes." He mused, resting his chin on Yuugi's shoulder.

Yuugi swatted playfully at Jounouchi. "You smell like wet dog." He grumbled.

"Yup." Jounouchi agreed, putting more weight on him. "Running in geta is more work than it looks like. And Mokuba and Noa found water balloons at one of the vending stalls and decided I needed a cooling off. They got a couple of kids to help them out too."

"Figures." Yuugi laughed. Mokuba could sweet talk almost anyone in to almost anything. "Did you have fun?"

He didn't need to see to feel Jounouchi's grin.

The grin abruptly froze however, as Jounouchi's muscles suddenly tensed. And since quite a bit of Jounouchi was plastered against Yuugi's back, there was no way for him to miss it.

He looked around and spotted Honda walking with Otogi, the two of them glancing at Jounouchi suspiciously and making soft comments back and forth to each other. Yuugi smiled peacefully at them and waved. Otogi smiled weakly and waved back, and then the two of them disappeared into the crowd again.

Jounouchi let out a breath he'd been holding, the air blowing past Yuugi's ear and making him shiver slightly. He patted one of Jounouchi's hands. "It's okay."

"It's not okay." Jounouchi said mournfully, resting his forehead where his chin had been previously, so that his face was hidden by his mass of hair. "Honda's been my closest bud for years. This -sucks-, Yuugi."

"I know." The problem was that Yuugi could see both of their sides. Jounouchi -couldn't- speak about a lot of his life to Honda, who didn't trust Kaiba with a three-metre pole. And he could understand Honda's feeling of betrayal upon realising that there were parts of Jounouchi's life he no longer had access to.

Silence fell as Kaiba walked on stage, Mokuba trailing behind. Kaiba didn't need anyone or anything to ask for silence, his presence was enough to do it.

... and he said he wasn't a Pharaoh. Hah.

"Watch this." Jounouchi straightened, moving to rest his head on top of Yuugi's, still not letting him go. Yuugi leaned back, letting Jounouchi take some of his slight weight. "Betcha he'll have the whole thing wrapped up in under ten minutes."

"No bet." Yuugi smiled happily. "Kaiba-kun -hates- public speaking."

"That's what makes him so good at it." Jounouchi snickered. "He doesn't do long winded speeches."

They were correct. Kaiba said everything that needed to be said, thanked everyone who needed to be thanked and introduced the person who would act as tonight's Hosts in under two minutes in his usual dramatic fashion. He then turned and walked off the stage, leaving the Hosts to entertain the crowd.

"I thought this was Mokuba's project." Yuugi commented, slightly confused. He'd expected Mokuba to at least say -something-.

"It is." Jounouchi agreed, looking around. "But Kaiba's the figurehead of Kaiba Corporation. And people don't seem to react so well when they find out that everything was done by a sixteen-year old."

"Ah." Yuugi nodded. Kaiba was protecting his brother again, even as he helped Mokuba spread his wings a bit. "And it keeps Mokuba out of the spotlight."

"Yup. Speaking of which, I think they ditched me again." Jounouchi patted the top of Yuugi's head. "Later, Yuugi!"

"Good Luck, Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi waved. Mokuba probably counted this as part of tonight's entertainment. Although he did hope that Jounouchi caught them at least once, otherwise Mokuba would never let Jounouchi hear the end of it.

He turned around and ran face first into Kaiba's chest. Kaiba caught his arm, steadying him. "Sorry." Yuugi blushed, rubbing his nose. Kaiba stared at him impassively, leaving Yuugi to wonder if Kaiba thought he was a big moron.

Finally Kaiba released him and turned to walk away. Yuugi debated for a moment, and then followed the larger man. They walked in silence once more. Yuugi looked up at the sky again. The sky was sufficiently dark that the monsters were clearly visible now, going on their ghostly business. No word about them had been made in Kaiba's short speech, leaving the people to wonder and marvel over their visitors.

Sometimes, things made more of an impact when underplayed.

"You said that we are not our Other Selves, although our Other Selves are a part of us." Kaiba commented, looking as if the words left a sour taste on his tongue. Although, if anyone was listening in, they'd be left confused by the talk of multiple personalities.

"Yes." Yuugi agreed.

"Then was your Other Self's leaving his choice or yours?"

Yuugi flinched, his hands curling into fists. For a moment he wished Jounouchi was there, with his warm presence. But this was part of the danger of hanging out with Kaiba as a friend. They both knew too much about the other, they both knew how to make it hurt. And Kaiba had far less compunctions about hurting others.

"Yes." Yuugi said tightly. Kaiba stopped and turned to look at him, his eyes silver from the contacts.

"That was an improper question." Kaiba said gravely. "Please ignore it."

"No. It's... " Yuugi shook his head, shrugging off Kaiba's minor apology. It wasn't -okay- exactly. But... "After everything, you have the right to ask, to know."

"Some things are harder to speak of than others." Kaiba waved it off. "Tell me when you are ready."

Yuugi laughed, squaring his shoulders and straightening to his small height. If Kaiba was saying something was too hard, it must have made the proud Kaiba really uncomfortable. "I'll never be ready, Kaiba-kun. But... For you, it is all right." As long as it was Kaiba asking. Even Jounouchi hadn't asked, just accepted it once the decision had been made and supported Yuugi through the aftermath.

Kaiba nodded, staying silent as they started walking again.

"My Other Self wanted to go back... and he wanted to stay." Yuugi said softly, resting a hand on his stomach where the puzzle had been. It was a nervous habit, and one that Jounouchi had occasionally teased him about, saying it made him look like he was pregnant. "He was tired. He had his memories back, or at least his name, and this wasn't his time. So in the end, it was my decision. To choose to have him stay, or to let him pass on."

"To win or lose."

"I lost either way."

"Hm." Kaiba didn't comment on that.

"If I had won, what would have become of my Other Self?" Yuugi mused. "After I died, be it tomorrow or in sixty years, would he be stuck in the puzzle with no memories for another three thousand years? The other Sennen Items, what would happen to those? New hosts?"

Kaiba shivered slightly. "Pegasus."

"Exactly." Yuugi nodded. "Not duelling wasn't a choice either, we could both feel it. It was pulling both of us, we couldn't not go."

"I could feel it too." Kaiba admitted. Yuugi smiled slightly at him. Poor Kaiba. The businessman had no interest in magic or 'hocus pocus'. He was a man of science. Past lives didn't sit well in his view of the world.

"Sometimes you lose by winning." Yuugi shrugged. "And sometimes you win by losing."

"Hah." Kaiba dismissed it.

Yuugi smiled. Kaiba would understand that some day.

A body impacted around him, picking him off the ground. "Heya!" Jounouchi's cheerful voice echoed around him as he was abruptly set back down. "Have some mochi, it's really good."

The blond passed Yuugi some small soft round gooey pastries, practically bouncing as he did so. Yuugi took the offered treat. "What about you?"

"I had some." Jounouchi grinned, giving them a mock salute. "And if Mokuba and Noa ask, you haven't seen me."

"What's going on?" Kaiba growled.

Jounouchi pulled a coin purse out of his obi, his tail wagging so hard it made his hips wiggle. "I got their wallet." He grinned as he quickly scrambled away.

Moments later, Mokuba and Noa dashed by, chasing after Jounouchi. "-And No Duelling!" Mokuba reminded them.

Kaiba crossed his arms, glaring at his little brother. Sometimes Yuugi wondered just who was supposed to be the elder one.

He passed a mochi to Kaiba, who took it. They ate and walked in silence, watching people. "Mokuba informs me that you can see... spirits." Kaiba finally commented uncomfortably.

"Yes."

"Can you see Noa?"

"Other than as a hologram, you mean?" Yuugi nodded. "Yes." Noa was definitely there as a spirit, a ghost, or what ever you wanted to call him.

Kaiba made a soft sound, like a cross between a grunt and a sigh.

"They're very happy." Yuugi added. "Noa-kun and Mokuba-kun."

"I know." Kaiba waved it off. "I just..."

"Worry." Noa had tried to kill them once after all.

"Yes."

Yuugi tilted his head to the side, offering Kaiba another mochi. He couldn't tell Kaiba not to worry, it was what Kaiba did as Mokuba's brother and guardian. Kaiba took the pastry, eating it silently. "I don't think you have to be too concerned about Mokuba-kun's safety around Noa-kun." He finally said diplomatically. The fate of anyone who tried to get between Noa and Mokuba was another story entirely.

He was not, however, going to volunteer to turn Noa into a card. The green haired spirit was happy as he was and Mokuba didn't currently need a physical link to his other brother.

They paused, watching a small brown-haired boy play with a Winged Kuriboh. The people around obviously saw the bouncing winged creature as well, much to Yuugi's amusement, and thought it to be part of the Festival. Even though Kaiba had said that the Monsters wouldn't be able to be seen below a certain height, there were always some that figured a way around what ever limitations had been placed.

"Arthur Hopkins made a discovery recently." Kaiba commented almost too casually, eyes watching the boy as well. "Three cards on par with Obelisk, Osiris and Ra."

Yuugi choked on his mochi. "What?!"

"That was the real reason for us going to Las Vegas a few months ago, to pick up the information he had translated about them." Kaiba continued, taking the last mochi from Yuugi's hand. "He wanted to prevent another Battle City or Doma from happening."

He felt a shiver go down his back. "What are you going to do with them?" Yuugi asked. He didn't think Kaiba would use the cards, who would he use them against?

"They are being hidden at the Duel Academia." Kaiba raised an eyebrow slightly, silently querying if Yuugi had heard of it. Yuugi nodded. Jounouchi had been rather enthusiastic about the place although Yuugi had yet to see it. "It is my experience that people fight better when they have something to protect."

"True." Yuugi nodded. The boy's parents called him away, it was late, past the boy's bed time. 'Judai' said a reluctant farewell to his new friend, the Winged Kuriboh making a sad little noise as the boy ran off. Yuugi whistled, drawing the Winged Kuriboh's attention away from the boy and towards him.

Kaiba watched with thinly veiled curiosity as the Winged Kuriboh rested in Yuugi's outstretched hands, purring happily. "Would you be interested in visiting sometime?" Kaiba asked as he started walking again, Yuugi joining him.

"Your Duellist Academy?" Yuugi looked up at the blue-eyed man, briefly wondering Kaiba's motivation for the question. It certainly wasn't for lack of company.

"Yes. I'd be interested to get your opinion on it, as a fellow Duellist." Kaiba nodded. "I'm sure your input would be invaluable. You would be reimbursed for your time, of course."

Yuugi laughed, startling the Winged Kuriboh, who fluttered in confusion. "I'd love to come, Kaiba-kun." He grinned. "But you don't have to pay me for my time. You're my friend, I enjoy spending time with you."

Kaiba look slightly baffled by the statement of friendship, but not as perplexed as he had been in years past. Jounouchi was a good influence on the business man, getting him to realise that people often did things for others without being asked or reimbursed for it.

"All right." Kaiba grudgingly agreed. "Sometime after the up-coming Championship, we'll ditch Mokuba and Jounouchi and visit the island."

"Ditch them?" Yuugi questioned, catching the Winged Kuriboh and cradling it to his chest. He closed his eyes, feeling the energy ripple through him, the soft fur warping and fading away. When he opened his eyes again, the Winged Kuriboh was now a card in his hands, the Kuriboh's squeak distantly echoing. Yuugi ran a finger down the card, silently reassuring the creature that he'd see Judai again before tucking the card in with the rest of his deck, hidden inside his yukata for safe keeping. "Why?"

Kaiba didn't appear to hear the question, staring at Yuugi with wide eyes. He didn't look scared, more awe-struck than anything. "Kaiba-kun?" Yuugi waved his hand. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, Kaiba knew he could do that.

"Um. Right. The school." Kaiba shook himself, his expression changing back to its usual fierce expression. "I'm not giving Jounouchi the opportunity to graffiti the place again before the students arrive." He grumbled.

Yuugi laughed.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto stared at the chessboard, willing it to fall into some sort of pattern that he could make sense of. Previously, he had been able to look at life like a chessboard. Every person, every piece had an assigned role. They would move like they were supposed to. Life or death on sixty-four squares.

Recent plans had changed the nature of the game. He had taken over companies before, but the goal of it was always that, the accumulation of the business, either to put rivals out of business or to strengthen his own. There had never been another continuing reason for it.

Perhaps he was too close to it to see it. Things had been easier to calculate with people as pieces, pawns to do what they were told. But now some of the pieces had faces, he knew them.

"Oi." Jounouchi's cheerful voice called from the door way. He glanced up to see the last bit of Jounouchi's grin fade, replaced by a thoughtful look. "What are you doing?"

He debated a moment, then mentally shrugged, flicking at a chess piece, making it wobble. "Looking at life." He commented cryptically, figuring that would be enough to solve the blond's curiosity. Instead, Jounouchi walked over, examining the chess board intently.

"It's too small." Jounouchi finally announced.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Too small?"

"Well..." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head, his expression either embarrassed or confused. "Life's rarely black and white, isn't it? What you need... is like more chessboards. All trying to get each other's kings. Red and Blue, Green and Purple, and like a... Yellow and Plaid or something... "

Reluctantly, he had to admit the blond did have a point, abet an unusual one. Although there was a certain amount of irony for someone who was slowly going colour blind to be suggesting more colour variation in Seto's life.

Four game boards combined into one would also increase the number of moves available as well. To the random observer it would be a chaotic mess, but Seto had defeated Chess Grand-masters before, four simultaneous games was not beyond his reach.

"I once compared you and your friends as chess pieces." Seto commented. "Yuugi as the King, your friend Honda as a Castle, and you as a Knight."

Of course, that had been during Death-T, but he was not about to mention that part to the blond.

"Knight, huh?" Jounouchi mused, picking up one of the black knights and peering at the carved horse's head. "Cool. And now?"

"And now... I am trying to ascertain that." Seto admitted. His role was not the King, to be defended at all costs, but he was uncertain as to what role he fit into on the board. Even if he were to add more pieces.

Jounouchi looked at him for a long moment and Seto felt that familiar flicker of fear, that the blond was getting too close, things were getting too intimate. Not physically. He could handle physically. It was the other ways that not-quite terrified him.

"You're looking too hard." Jounouchi finally announced, leaning down and rubbing Seto's forehead with a thumb, smoothing out the wrinkles there. "That's your problem."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi grinned, setting the knight down where it belonged. "I'm still a Knight. Mokuba's your hidden weapon, the most versatile and dangerous piece on the board, the Queen. And Yuugi is the King."

"JOUNOUCHI!!!" Mokuba's voice echoed through the corridors. "WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

"And me?" Seto questioned as Jounouchi turned to head out the door.

The blond clapped him on the shoulder. "The Game Master, of course." He informed Seto matter-of-factly. "Idiot. See ya in a few hours. COMING MOKUBA!!!"

Seto watched Jounouchi half-jogged out of the room, Mokuba's voice scolding him for making them run late. He turned back to the board, picking up the white King and studying it.

Game Master... The one behind the players controlling the battle field. He supposed he could live with that. He had been doing it for a while now, awareness of that responsibility would not change anything.

He set the chess piece back down and rose, to see where the other chess boards had been hidden in the house. Perhaps it was time to change his definitions of how the game was played.

But one thing still remained the same.

Long live the King.

 

+++  
+++

 

A Kuriboh greeted him at the front door. Yuugi smiled as the creature bounced up and down gleefully, flying in circles around him.

The sky of flying monsters had been a hit during the Summer Obon Festival, so Mokuba had the idea of adapting that to Kaiba Land, filling the tall rooms of the amusement park inside the skyscraper with Duel Monsters. It wasn't Solid System, merely Solid Vision --as if holograms that were solid to the eye could be called 'merely'--, but it was still an impressive sight. One of the features Mokuba had been working on was that any registered Duellist who entered in to the building had their favourite card appear next to them.

The appearance of a Blue Eyes White Dragon meant that one of the Kaiba were in the area. Kaiba's Dragon was generally perched above the elevator doors, watching over everything. Often times, Jounouchi's Red Eyes Black Dragon would be perched next to Kaiba's Blue Eyes, the two dragons snarling at each other occasionally, or alternating naps, their large scaly heads resting against the other's body, necks intertwined as one kept a look out.

Yuugi doubted Kaiba knew about the dragons doing that and he wasn't going to be the one to ruin it either. He sensed Mokuba's hand in that.

Noa and Mokuba's Blue Eyes White Dragons usually showed up together, because it was rare that Noa left Mokuba's side. Occasionally Noa's Blue Eyes would be with Jounouchi's Red Eyes, but not often. Although Yuugi wasn't sure himself how he could tell the three Blue Eyes apart, he just could.

Speaking of the Blue Eyes, a roar drew his attention towards the tall ceiling where Mokuba and Noa's dragons were flying in chaotic circles, Jounouchi's Red Eyes appeared to be trying to herd them, Kaiba's Blue Eyes snapping at the Red Eyes dragon's heels.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi's voice echoed above the usual chatter of the Amusement Park. He glanced up to see Jounouchi and Mokuba running towards him, broad grins on their faces. Noa floated above them, drawing some surprised comments from the bystanders as the only humanoid figure amid the holograms.

He smiled and waved, then paused in confusion as they scrambled behind him. The source of their grins made an abrupt sense as the elder Kaiba charged towards him, looking as irritated as Kaiba got.

"Yuugi! Stop him!" Jounouchi shouted as the two trouble makers scrambled away from the doors, tossing Kaiba's metal briefcase between the two of them.

Yuugi made a valiant effort to do as his friend asked, leaping towards Kaiba. Unfortunately, it was just Kaiba was turning, so he ended up sort of draped like a cape around Kaiba's neck.

Kaiba froze. Yuugi froze. Jounouchi cheered. Noa looked shell-shocked. Mokuba tossed Jounouchi Kaiba's briefcase. Kaiba slowly turned his head to look at Yuugi, death in his cold blue eyes. Yuugi laughed sheepishly and wondered what his Other Self would do in this situation.

"Get them!" He cheered, loosening his hold around Kaiba's neck to point towards Jounouchi, who was tossing something back towards Mokuba.

"Yuugi! Ya Traitor!" Jounouchi shouted as Kaiba took off running, forcing Yuugi to wrap his legs around Kaiba's waist to hold on. Well, he supposed that worked better than groping Kaiba's butt and then running like hell, which was the first thing he could think of his Other Self doing, just to see if he could get Kaiba to jump.

"Scapegoat!" Mokuba called, sliding a card into a device on his wrist that Yuugi vaguely recognised as the projection device Mokuba had worn at the Festival. Four pastel sheep appeared, snoring happily and floating in midair. The dark haired boy then slid a second card in. "Multiply!"

The air was filled with floating snoring sheep. Several kids cheered, starting to bat the passive woolly figures around. They weren't solid, the sheep passing through the children's hands, but they still changed course when hit. But they didn't need to be solid to the touch to hide where Jounouchi and Mokuba were hiding. Kaiba slowed down as he waded through the sheep.

Yuugi caught a flash of silver and followed it. "To the right!" He called.

Like a raptor tracking his prey, Kaiba turned and charged in the direction Yuugi indicated. Mokuba was carrying the briefcase, dodging sleeping goats and children like he had been doing it all of his life. Or at least the past several years.

"Noa!" Mokuba shouted as Kaiba got close enough to take a swipe at his younger brother. The briefcase was tossed up in the air, Noa the friendly ghost swooping down to catch it. Jounouchi grabbed Mokuba around the waist, tossing him over his shoulder and running towards the doors just as Kaiba's hand closed on where Mokuba had been.

"Got his phone!" Mokuba cheered, gleefully opening it up and pressing buttons. Kaiba charged towards them as Noa dropped the briefcase into Jounouchi's hand, and then took centre point, clearing the way of bouncing sheep. Mokuba cheerfully began ordering pizzas to be delivered to the Kaiba house as Jounouchi ran out the door.

"MOKUBA!" Kaiba roared, not pausing in his stride as he followed them out the front door and down the stairs. "YOU ARE -GROUNDED-."

Jounouchi and Mokuba disappeared into the depths of the waiting limousine at the bottom of the stairs. Yuugi half anticipated it to speed away, but it appeared to be stuck by traffic until just after Kaiba, with Yuugi still on his back, dove inside.

"GO!" Mokuba cheered, banging on the glass dividing the passengers from the driver. The force of their acceleration tossed them around and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Oh, yeah." Jounouchi grinned as he picked himself off the floor. "I -love- this driver."

"You can release me now." Kaiba informed Yuugi. It was a lot less hostile than Yuugi would have imagined for having been used as a horse. Yuugi blushed and released his grip on the much larger Kaiba. Kaiba's piercing blue eyes glared at Jounouchi and Mokuba. "I assume you felt that I was over-working again, which is why you packed up my desk while the other distracted me and stole my briefcase."

"Yup." Mokuba agreed easily.

"And it was fun." Jounouchi grinned, holding his hand up. Mokuba slapped his palm.

"And will add to the growing list of indications of my insanity." Kaiba added with a sigh, resting his head on the back of the seat.

"Eccentricity." Jounouchi corrected. "Rich people aren't insane, they're -eccentric-."

Mokuba didn't seem disturbed as he relaxed into his own seat. "You say it like it's a bad thing." He smirked.

Yuugi blinked, looking back and forth between the two brothers. Jounouchi nudged Yuugi with a subtle gesture of his arm. "Relax." Jounouchi gave him a lazy smile. "It's all part of their 'secret plans'."

The blond obviously had no idea what these 'secret plans' were, but didn't seem worried about it. Yuugi nodded and relaxed slightly as Kaiba closed his eyes. Kaiba did look tired, Yuugi didn't blame Jounouchi and Mokuba for worrying about the business man.

"And we get pizza for dinner!" Jounouchi added gleefully, causing Mokuba to laugh.

"I'm not really grounded, am I 'Niisama?" Mokuba smiled innocently at his brother.

A pause followed. It was only because Yuugi was sitting right next to Kaiba and was looking for it that he noticed the slight curve up at the corners of Kaiba's lips.

Mokuba began to look worried.

"'...Niisama?"

 

+++


	2. Chapter 2

+++

 

"Noa?" Mokuba called into the black void that was the Virtual World. Or at least, -this- Virtual World. He got no response back. "Noa? Are you there?"

He wasn't entirely sure this would work, but he had to give it a chance. Even if it was dark and scary here.

Mokuba -hated- the dark.

The darkness flickered, and suddenly there was light. Or more specifically, the darkness flickered and suddenly there was Noa.

"Ototo?" Noa reached out, tentatively touching him.

"Hey, Noa." Mokuba smiled back. "Long time no see."

Noa's reaction was to throw his arms around Mokuba and hold on. "... Noa?" Mokuba blinked, tentatively putting his arms around his green-haired sibling. Noa was solid under his hands, not passing through his body like he normally did. Contact.

"I'm sorry." Noa whispered. "But... can we stay like this? Just for a little while?"

"Yeah." He hugged Noa tightly. This was the first time they'd actually been able to touch. Noa's programming was too complex for the Solid Systems to handle at this point, except for brief amounts of time.

He'd forgotten... in the Virtual World, Noa was -real-. He'd been focusing for so long on getting Noa out into the 'Real World' that he'd forgotten that. There was no scent or taste here, but it was still better than just seeing and hearing someone.

And it was kind of nice to be the one holding someone else for a change. Usually he was the one being reassured, not the one doing the reassuring. It was... kind of nice. To be the dependable one.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, idly rubbing Noa's back. "I didn't think 'Niisama would actually ground us for that stunt."

"S'okay." Noa rubbed his cheek against Mokuba's shoulder, like a cat. "I'm just glad you came. How did you get here anyway?"

"Kaiba Land Virtual Pods." Mokuba smirked. "I'm not allowed access to the Kaiba Corporation computers for a week, but the bodyguards don't know that I hack into any of the computer systems, even the ones for amusement."

If you wanted to build amazing machines, you talked to Kaiba Seto. But if you wanted programming built or hacked, you talked to Kaiba Mokuba.

"Bodyguards?" Noa pulled his head away so they could see each other's faces, his eyes wide with alarm. "What happened to Jounouchi?"

"Jounouchi's stuck watching 'Niisama until I'm no longer grounded." Mokuba gave Noa a weak smile. "He's -not- happy."

Noa gave him a weak smile back in return. "No, I imagine not."

Mokuba leaned forward so that their foreheads were resting against each other. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Noa's eyes crinkled, but it was obvious he was lying.

"Liar."

Noa closed his eyes, reaching up and brushing some of the hair that fell in Mokuba's face with gentle fingers. "Time passes differently here. I don't know how long it's been since I've seen you." Noa turned bright red when he realised what he said. "Um, I mean... seen everyone..."

"Two days." Mokuba made a mental note to talk to Yuugi about the possibility of calling Noa, to give him some contact to the outside world, even if it was limited. Technically, Mokuba wasn't supposed to be here, but he couldn't leave Noa by himself either. "And I missed you too."

Noa grinned at him, and it was worth the chewing out he knew he was going to get if 'Niisama ever discovered this unauthorised visit.

"So." Noa rested his head on Mokuba's shoulder again, fingers running through Mokuba's long hair. "How long can you stay?"

"Not long." But he'd have to do this again soon, now that he knew that they could touch here. And isolation wasn't good for anyone. "But I'll stay as long as I can."

Anything for his brother. Either of them.

They stayed curled up together in the darkness until Mokuba had to leave.

 

+++  
+++

 

Yuugi resisted the urge to sigh. And to beat his head his head against the shelves.

He missed Jounouchi. Usually he saw him every day, the blond helping him the Kame Game Shop's back rooms, over Yuugi's protests, before they had a game or two. But Jounouchi had been 'grounded' for the past several days. And would be for another several days still.

And while Honda was a dear friend, it just wasn't the same. Especially since all it appeared the brown haired boy wanted to do was rant about Jounouchi. Or more accurately, pace the back room ranting about what an ass Jounouchi was while waving around the latest tabloid around.

Yuugi had a copy of the same tabloid upstairs, the pictures and articles carefully cut out and put in a scrap book. The headline was speculating to know if he, Jounouchi and Kaiba were in a scandalous kinky threesome. The article was pure nonsense, but he liked the pictures. They were from the Summer Obon Festival, one of Jounouchi draped over Yuugi while Kaiba had been speaking during the opening ceremonies, the other of Kaiba catching him after Yuugi had run into him, his face blushing in embarrassment.

The opposite page of the scrapbook was a picture of he and Jounouchi playing Duel Monsters on Kaiba's chest in the park. That was his favourite photograph.

"-AND!" Honda smacked the tabloid with the back of a hand for emphasis. "He's sleeping with KAIBA!"

"Of course he is." Yuugi agreed placidly, putting the boxes they had just gotten behind some of the older stock. This had been Honda's favourite discussion for the past several weeks. "So am I."

Honda let out an undignified squeak as the rant abruptly cut off.

"So is Mokuba-kun and Noa-kun." Yuugi continued, twisting slightly to get the last of the boxes to the very back. "Well, as much as Noa-kun sleeps, anyway."

Honda let out another high pitched squeak. Yuugi turned around, noticing that Honda really did resemble nothing more than a monkey. A rather startled monkey at that. Yuugi smiled slightly, silently grateful for his 'innocent' appearance that caused people to underestimate him. "Movie Nights. We put futons out on the floor in front of the television and sleep across them."

"... Oh." Honda stared at him wide eyed for a moment longer before shaking his head. "So Jounouchi and Kaiba aren't fuc- uh... screw... um..."

Yuugi chuckled, picking up some boxes of booster packs. "Bonking like bunnies? Dancing the horizontal mambo? Making the beast with two backs? Doing the nasty?" He asked, well aware that if 'Jiichan or ‘Kaachan walked in right now he'd get his mouth washed out with soap, no matter how old he was. After they finished having a heart attack, that was.

"... Yeah." Honda's face and ears were pink in embarrassment. Except for Jounouchi, who had taken fiendish glee in sharing his porn collection with Yuugi in High School, most people, even his close friends, thought he was as naive as he appeared to be. And since he wasn't looking for a partner, most people assumed he was generally sexless as well.

"I haven't asked." Yuugi admitted, turning towards the shelves and putting the boxes he carried away. "It's none of my business if they are or aren't."

"Oh." Honda deflated. He glanced down at the tabloid that he'd been waving about and set it aside. "Then why'd he get all pissed off when I asked him about it? He pinned me against the wall when I said that. "

"Jounouchi-kun and Kaiba-kun are friends." Yuugi said blandly, going back for a second load. The booster packs were selling well, it was a good thing they'd gotten the shipment when they did or they might have run out. "He's done the same when people insulted you, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, but..." Honda rubbed an ear. "He was -really- mad about it."

"Don't forget, protecting Kaiba-kun and Mokuba-kun is his job now." Putting the stock away took a lot less time with two people. Yuugi went back for a third load. "Speaking of which, how goes the application for the sharpshooting squad?"

"Eh, it goes." Honda leaned back on the chair. "Still have some paperwork stuff to deal with. They want to keep me in Division 1 though." Honda’s group was usually stuck with some of the stranger cases.

"Good luck with that." Yuugi smiled.

"Thanks." Honda flashed him a quick smile. "So how does Jounouchi being friends with Kaiba make it okay for him to keep stuff from us?"

"It doesn't." Yuugi admitted, grabbing the box cutter and cutting through the tape off the bottom of the box and tearing it down. "But it does mean he can't talk about a lot of things."

"You mean like the fact that he's got dog ears and a tail?" Honda grimaced.

Yuugi glanced around. No one appeared to be earshot, but still... "Say it a little louder, will you Honda-kun?" He muttered.

Honda had the grace to blush. "Sorry." He muttered.

Yuugi sighed, opening the next box and putting the box cutter away. "Honda-kun... do you remember how we met?"

"Sure. You started hanging out with Jounouchi and we became friends." Honda shrugged.

"Not how we became friends." Yuugi corrected, pulling out boxes of Duel Monsters figurines to be put together. "How we met."

"Oh." Honda frowned, thinking about it. "... Jounouchi. Jounouchi started picking on you... uh. Sorry, Yuugi."

"No." He assured Honda, putting the boxes on the shelves with the rest of the figurines. He set some aside for Jiichan to shelve up front. "That's how we became friends. Do you know why Jounouchi-kun started picking on me?"

"Yeah." Honda grinned, his eyes crinkling with fond amusement. "Cause you were different, you always had your head down or in your puzzles. He was trying to make you look up, help ya become a man."

"Exactly."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you just say it?" Yuugi smiled, picking up some more figurine boxes. "Because I was different."

"Aw, man..." Honda grimaced. "Sorry, Yuugi. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." Yuugi assured him. "But you're not wrong."

"Yeah, but...."

"How long did you know me before I told you about my Other Self?" Yuugi asked, putting the boxes on the shelf.

"Um... A couple of months, I think. During Duellist Kingdom." Honda rubbed his ear again. "You'd been afraid to tell us about him cause you thought it might scare us away."

"Because it was different." Yuugi said mildly. "Most people don't have another person inside their head."

"Or funky possessed jewellery." Honda grinned.

Yuugi grinned back, picking up the last of the figurine boxes. "How long did it take for you to tell us that you and Otogi-kun were dating?"

"When I moved in with him." Honda's grin turned fond, almost sappy. The expression of a man smitten.

"Which was about a year since you'd started dating." Yuugi pointed out. "Why'd it take you so long to tell us, tell your friends?"

"Cause I didn't want it to change things between us." Honda's grin faded, his expression turning serious. "I was afraid things might get weird, people thinking I was checking them out in the showers or something, once they knew I was dating a guy." Especially since Honda had been moving out of the Police Dormitories at the time.

"-Which didn't happen." Yuugi smiled as he put the boxes away. Poor Honda had been jumpy for weeks after he told everyone. They'd all found it highly amusing. Otogi's preening and posturing hadn't helped it any.

"Thankfully." Honda flashed a smile back before looking thoughtful. "So you're saying that Jounouchi didn't tell us cause he didn't want us treating him any differently?"

"I'm saying it's a possibility." Yuugi said seriously. "But I haven't heard Kaiba-kun make any dog references since the incident."

Honda's eyes widened in surprise. It faded into a rueful expression. "They really are becoming friends, aren't they?"

Yuugi grabbed the box cutter and tore down that box. "I think it's good for them."

"Huh." Honda ran a hand across his head. "I'll reserve judgement on that till I see it."

Yuugi just smiled back, opening the next box of shipment.

"So, um." Honda gave him a weak grin. "Need a hand putting stuff away?"

Yuugi grinned back. "Thanks."

 

+++  
+++

One of the smaller perks of working for Kaiba was that Jounouchi had his own laptop with an incredibly fast wireless connection. This meant that anytime he felt like it, and remembered where he had put the stupid laptop this time, he could surf the internet, play games or chat with random duellists from around the world.

The downside to this was that after most of a week of nothing to do -but- play on the laptop, he was bored. B-O-R-E-D. With capital letters, long suffering sighs and thoughts of seeing if asphyxiation was fun, because being passed out had to be more entertaining than -this-.

Not that Ol' Blue Eyes cared. The rat-bastard was sitting at his desk, typing away with a serious expression on his face. Just like he had been doing ever since he had grounded Jounouchi, Mokuba and Noa. Kaiba hadn't even gone on any inspections or visited the Research and Development departments, having spent the entire time either in the office or in various meetings.

Jounouchi hadn't even been aware that he -could- be grounded. Really, at his age, and having moved out of his folks' house, he would have thought he was a bit old for it. But 'grounded' had a slightly better feel to it than 'Jail Sentence' or 'Punishment Game'.

Although it was all not-so obviously part of Ol' Blue Eyes secret plan. To encourage the idea that the next time that either Mokuba or Noa had some sort of crazy hair brained scheme, Jounouchi would remember this boredom and talk them out of it.

-Yeah, right.

Kaiba shifted, looking towards the door. "Something wrong?" Jounouchi asked from his seat on the floor, leaning against the desk next to Kaiba's chair. It had been Jounouchi's idea to sit there, the only other chairs were murder on everyone's back and the floor was comfortable, having lots of nice padding. Sure, it looked like Ol' Blue Eyes had him leashed to the desk, but it was a good place to hide out unobserved and take the occasional nap.

"My next appointment appears to be late." Kaiba's eyes narrowed in displeasure. The Dragon hated to be kept waiting.

Jounouchi checked the time on his laptop. "Nope." He cheerfully reported, pulling an already knotted tie out of his pocket, took off the top hat and slid the noose over his head, tightening it slightly around his neck. It still hung lower than the leather collar, but that was all right. "They're right here."

After all, one -should- wear a tie to a business function. Even if it was over a tee-shirt and tailcoat.

One of Kaiba's eyebrows rose. "I... see." He said in a tone that clearly stated that he did not see at all.

Jounouchi got to his feet with a grin, brushed himself off and put the top hat back on. "Discovered something a while back that I thought ya prolly didn't know about and should. And with all the recent downtime I've had lately, figured it was as good of a time as any to look into it a little deeper."

Kaiba leaned back in the chair, elbows on the chair arms, fingers twined together, one leg crossed over the other at the knee, looking every inch the sceptical regal king on a throne. "And you arranged an appointment in my schedule rather than merely telling me, why-?"

Jounouchi shrugged. "More fun this way." He pulled a USB drive off the side of his laptop and tossed it to Kaiba, who caught it with the least amount of effort required. "Information's all on there. I may suck at powerpoint presentations, but I can organise files in order."

Ol' Blue Eyes raised an eyebrow and stuck the memory stick into a port on the side of the table. Solid System projectors, built into the table itself hummed and came to life, showing a Blue Eyes White Dragon in full flight.

"And this required my attention?" Kaiba snarked dismissively. If he wanted to see his dragons in flight, he could go downstairs and look at the ceiling for a while.

"Just watch." Jounouchi said easily. A second Blue Eyes joined the first, the two dragons chasing each other, performing gracefully acrobatic flips, twists and turns as they flew.

And then the second Blue Eyes, heh, -joined- the first one, limbs and tails entwined around each other as they rutted in the sky.

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly, the only indication of what might be running through his head. Jounouchi smirked. Gotcha.

"Of course, if that doesn't do it for ya." He grinned, leaning over Kaiba's shoulder and toggling the next scene. This time it was a Red Eyes Black Dragon and a Blue Eyes White Dragon that were sensuously tangled together. Claws and fangs scratched ineffectually at armoured skin as the two twisted in the air, mighty wings beating strongly to keep them up and driving them closer together.

It was sort of like looking at a warped yin-yang concept, with dragons. Artistic, in a dangerous sort of way.

"And if you're not into Dragons..." Which Kaiba most definitely -was-, if the slightly glazed dilated eyes and interested spicy scent Kaiba was giving off was any indication. Jounouchi had guessed that he would be and had purposely gone through and saved all of the Blue Eyes White Dragon porn he could find for Kaiba to go through later, at his own leisure. Besides, what else did you give a severely repressed business mogul who could buy anything he wanted? "There's always the other monsters."

He cued the next file segment, Black Magician was performing his Pointy Hat Trick on a very enthusiastic and bouncing Black Magician Girl. Black Magician Girl's costume had finally submitted to the laws of gravity and was popping out all over the place as she showed her squealing appreciation for Black Magician's antics.

Kaiba didn't seem quite as interested in that as he had been the dragons, so Jounouchi went on to the next one. Celtic Warrior and the Black Magician were happily comparing the versatility of each other's weapons. That got a little bit more attention, but not quite as much as the dragons. Jounouchi moved on to the next clip.

A yellow rodent had a Kuriboh in its grasp, making soft repeated 'Pika' sounds as it thrust against the Kuriboh. Kaiba's interest changed to shock as his jaw dropped slightly, watching the spectacle. The rodent sped up its thrusts, a crackling electrical charge building up around it. "CHUUUUU!!!" The rodent screamed.

The Kuriboh exploded, taking the yellow rodent with it.

Jounouchi cackled. He'd yet to get tired of that.

"That is..." Kaiba seemed to be at a loss for words. "What -was- that?!"

"Well..." Jounouchi drawled, sitting on the arm of Kaiba's chair. "Evidently some of the engineers get bored while running scenarios late at night and started coming up with their own. Hence the dragons and the Black Magician. He seems to be a favourite for some reason. The Kuriboh was fan made, evidently there's quite a large Duel Monsters fanbase online."

"People... go out of their way to -make- this?" Kaiba boggled. Well, as much as Kaiba boggled.

"For free too." Jounouchi agreed. "Spend their own time and money on it, just cause they enjoy the game or the monsters, even if they don't play. Make their own scenarios, draw 'fanart', write 'fanfiction', create webshrines, all sorts of things. Which, in turn, gets their friends and other people into it. Free advertisement at its best. It's not just the monsters either, a lot of the Duellists have fans too."

Kaiba gave him a rather bland look as if to state he knew -that-. He'd had screaming hordes of fans for -years-.

"Maybe I should rephrase that." Jounouchi smirked, clicking down to a different folder. "Ever heard of 'RPS'?"

"'Role Playing System'?" Ol' Blue Eyes mused.

"Not quite." Jounouchi chuckled. "'Real Person Slash'. Usually fanfiction is written about characters in a made up TV series, movie or book. 'Real Person Slash' is fans writing the actors themselves getting it on. 'Slash' means same sex relationships, somethin' about an old Star Trek reference." He still didn't quite understand that part, something about Kirk/Spock or something like that.

"Wait..." Kaiba gave him a wary look. "Duellists? Real Person Slash? You're not implying-"

"Implyin' nothing." Jounouchi clicked on the top picture, one of the two sides of Yuugi curled around each other, joined by the puzzle. "Some o' those fangirls are pretty sharp, figured out the whole 'Two Faces of Yuugi' pretty quick. As far as they're concerned, the major duellists are all having a massive orgy every time there's a major tournament."

This time Kaiba's jaw did drop, his mouth opening slightly as he glanced between the two Yuugi and Jounouchi. Jounouchi smirked back. "They even got names fer it. Yuugi and his other self are 'Puzzleshipping', Bakura and his darker half are 'Tendershipping' fer some reason, Bakura and Malik are 'Thiefshipping', Yuugi and myself are 'Wishshipping', Ryuuzaki and Insector Haga are 'Shrimpshipping', Honda and Otogi are 'Chaseshipping', there's hundreds of these."

Kaiba gave him a withering look. "Please tell me that Mokuba isn't involved in these... 'Shippings'."

"Eh... not so much." People tended to go for the older, leather wearing Duellists. But there was Tabloidshipping, Kaiba and Mokuba. Stepshipping, Mokuba and Noa. Conditionshipping, Gozaburou and Mokuba... actually, that one was just creepy. So was 'Conscriptshipping', Gozaburou, Ol' Blue Eyes and Mokuba. Geh. That one he didn't wanna even think about. Old evil guy sex. Ew.

Not that he was going to mention -those- to Kaiba. Ol' Blue Eyes was EXTREMELY protective of his -little- brother.

Kaiba growled something under his breath that probably would have been highly fascinating if Kaiba's jaw hadn't been clenched shut. Jounouchi flipped through pictures for the various 'shippings, giving Kaiba a moment to stop raging. And some of the art was pretty good, a couple of them being a lot more flattering than the people actually were. Some of it wasn't so good. The fics were the same variations of extremes, although he did have to protest that he wasn't a weepy little bottom, submitting to his ‘master's’ every whim.

"-And you and I are called?" Kaiba finally asked.

"'Puppyshipping'."

The expression on Kaiba's face was a bit hard to read. Either he'd just bitten into a pair of Mokuba's gym socks or he really wanted to repeatedly hit his head against the desk.

"It's fairly popular." Jounouchi added cheerfully. "You and Mai are 'Arrogantshipping', you and Yuugi is 'Rivalshipping', you, me and Yuugi is 'Battleshipping'-"

"-I get the picture." Kaiba cut him off. He made some muttered comments about free advertising versus disturbing perverts.

"I've got links to some of the sites on the drive." Jounouchi added helpfully. "Although you may want to avoid the Fuchsiashipping."

"Fuchsiashipping?" Kaiba echoed warily.

"Pegasus and Siegfried von Schroider." Jounouchi smiled. "Rumour has it that Pegasus is alive and well on an private island somewhere in the tropics having FABULOUS nookie with Siefried."

He could practically see Kaiba's brain shut down and begin to ooze out of his ears.

Abort. Retry. Fail. Repeat.

Jounouchi patted Kaiba on the shoulder. "So I was thinking of heading down to the Arcade for a bit. That okay with you?"

Kaiba nodded automatically, his brain still attempting to reboot and failing. "Great. See you later." Jounouchi quickly skipped out of the office, waved at the secretary and scrambled into the elevator before Ol' Blue Eyes snapped out if it. It probably wouldn't take too long and he wanted to be away before that happened. Although he would stay in the building like the good bodyguard.

Grinning, he pulled out his mobile phone and called Yuugi's number. Yuugi picked up on the second ring. "Jounouchi-kun!!!"

"Hey, Yuugi." Jounouchi's tail thumped happily against the elevator wall. "I just slipped my leash for a few hours, wanna come play?"

"I'll be right there."

 

+++  
+++

 

The Burst Stream of Destruction ripped through Jounouchi, reducing his life points down to zero in a blinding wave of not-pain. He always thought in retrospect that it always seemed like it should physically hurt, having that much energy apparently tear through him, but it never did. It was more mental than anything else.

That didn't stop Jounouchi from flinching and bracing himself through it, the after effects leaving him slightly dizzy. Above him and around him, Isono's voice over the loud speakers proclaiming Kaiba Seto as the Japanese Reigning Duel Monsters Champion as the crowd below cheered.

Slightly hidden behind a Fusion card, the Red Eyes Black Dragon appeared to wink at him, a knowing grin on the dragon's face. He smiled back, watching the untouched trap card on the playing field disappear.

The platforms lowered and collected his cards before he making his way across the duelling arena. "Congratulations." He grinned, offering his hand. Usually Kaiba eschewed touching anyone, even to shake hands with his opponents. However, Kaiba shot him a small smile back, giving his hand a hard shake before releasing it.

"Good game." Kaiba commented. High praise indeed.

"Thanks. You too." That was about all the time he had to say anything before Yuugi and Mokuba made their appearance, Mokuba bouncing towards his brother and Yuugi grinning at Jounouchi.

"Well done." Yuugi commented, slapping his palm to Jounouchi's, causing people to scream louder in the background. Hugs and noogies could wait for a more private venue. They were currently being broadcast publicly nationwide on television.

"Thanks." He smiled crookedly back. He's entered this year's tournament from the bottom up, accepting no short cuts just because he was a ranking duellist. And he'd gotten Second. Not bad over all.

"Hah!" Mokuba cheered, smugly grinning at Jounouchi. "'Niisama IS the best!"

"Yup." Jounouchi agreed easily. "Sure is, kid."

Isono's face appeared on the big screens, announcing the awards ceremony and speech by the winner, Kaiba turning and striding off to perform his duties as Reigning Champion, Mokuba bouncing along, as proud as he could be of his brother.

Jounouchi watched them walk off, then turned and exited the duelling stage, Yuugi trailing along behind him, leaving Kaiba to his responsibilities. They'd meet up later, but both Kaiba brothers were as safe as they could be in front of this many people. Jounouchi's presence or a lack of presence wasn't going to change anything.

In the meantime, Jounouchi would relax and hang out back stage with Yuugi, relaxing out of sight and mind.

And really, that was the whole point.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto pulled the towel off his head as he exited the bathroom, pausing to examine the clothing that had been set out on his bed while he'd been in the shower, washing the sweat off from this mornings sparring practise.

Turtleneck.

Leather pants.

Duster.

Boots.

Appropriate undergarments, accessories and shiny buckles.

He raised an eyebrow, staring at it for a moment. After a moment's thought, he turned and opened his bedroom door, after a quick double check that his robe was fastened securely.

"Mokuba?" He called. Jounouchi's door was shut and he could hear the blond's shower running. There was a muffled thump and the sound of scurrying from Mokuba's room before his brother's dishevelled head popped out of the doorway.

"Yeah, 'Niisama?" Mokuba appeared to be attempting to put on his shirt and jacket on at the same time and failing at both.

"Is there a particular reason behind today's garments?" Seto inquired. He usually did not have his clothing laid out for him, unless Mokuba felt it to be a special occasion.

"You weren't expecting it, were you?" Mokuba grinned.

Seto glanced back at the -white- clothing with the -black- duster. "No."

"Then neither will anyone else." Mokuba pulled his hair out of his shirt and ducked back into his room, while Noa announced he found the hair brush.

Seto shrugged. "I suppose I should be grateful you did not attempt to dye my hair blue and my eyes brown."

"No, I tried to." Mokuba assured him from the depths of his room. "But Jounouchi wouldn't let me do it."

Seto paused before turning to go back into his room and get dressed for the day. "Remind me to give him a bonus..."

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi had gotten used to Kaiba's various moods. Several years ago, if someone had told him that he'd be able to tell the difference between Ol' Blue Eyes' 'casual indifference' and 'fack off and die' glares, he would have laughed in their faces.

Course, if someone had told him a few years ago that he'd be -living- with Kaiba, and sharing a bed no less, he would have laughed until he cried, then beat the person up to a bloody pulp for suggesting such a thing.

Funny how times change.

If someone had told him last week that Kaiba would come charging into the Observation Deck while Jounouchi was hanging out with the techies before running a test match, looking like he wanted to rip off Jounouchi's head, he would have snickered and waved it off. A few years ago, he would have believed it easily. Lately? Not so much.

Which is why it took him by surprise when Kaiba Seto did just that. If it wasn't for the fact that he sparred with Kaiba on a nearly daily basis, he probably would have had his head ripped off too. As it was, he managed to dodge in time and Kaiba left a dent in the wall instead.

The -metal- wall.

"The fu---" He bit off the rest of the word, ducking and crossing his arms to block as Kaiba spun, blue eyes glowing like laser sights. "-is WRONG with you?!"

For a moment he debated the possibility of a rampaging android or an alien robot from space having taken over Kaiba's body. With the type of life they led, neither of them would have shocked him. Mildly surprised, maybe. But not shocked.

"You." Kaiba's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Lost."

"Yeah?" Which time? At what? Life in general?

Kaiba took a step forward, the techies fleeing to the edges of the room, several of them starting to inch towards the doors. Out of the corner of his eye, Jounouchi vaguely noted one hiding under his console.

"On. PURPOSE." Kaiba growled.

"Oh." Jounouchi paused, a nervous smile sliding across his face. "That."

"Yes. 'That'." Kaiba agreed icily, stopping his progress. Either because if Jounouchi went back much farther, he'd be -on- the consoles or because Kaiba didn't trust himself to get within arms reach, Jounouchi couldn't tell. "The Kaiba Corporation Duel Disks record every card in a player's deck upon activation at the beginning of a Duel to ensure that there is no cheating or replacement of cards in the players hands or decks."

"... Oh." So -that's- how Kaiba figured it out... Jounouchi certainly hadn't said anything about his defeat and neither had Yuugi, whom Jounouchi had then proceeded to beat in a private duel back stage while the Kaiba siblings had been doing their business type stuff on stage.

"I was reviewing the records." Kaiba continued, his voice a harsh rumble. "You had a trap card face down in front of you, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Meteor Dragon and a Fusion Card in your hand. Had you avoided or deflected my Burst Stream with the trap card, you would have been able to attack and defeat my Blue Eyes during your next turn."

Blue Eyes White Dragon had 3000 attack points. Red Eyes Black Dragon only had 2400 attack points. But when fused with Meteor Dragon, Red Eyes Black Dragon became Black Meteor Dragon, with 3500 attack points.

Their life points had pretty much been tied at the point that Kaiba had pulled out his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Had Jounouchi counter attacked, he would have won the duel and the Championship.

"Yeah?" He shrugged. "And?"

"You did not." To the cringing techies, that probably sounded like a hostile accusation. To Jounouchi however, it sounded like a whinge.

"Nope." Jounouchi agreed.

Kaiba glared at him, silently promising death for making him -ask- the question instead of just coming out and saying what was going on under that blond mop Jounouchi called hair. "Why?"

Jounouchi tensed slightly as he prepared to dash out the door if need be. "Cause I didn't need to."

"You..." Kaiba stared at him like Jounouchi had suddenly grown horns and black bat wings along with his ears and tail. "WHAT?"

"I didn't need to win." Jounouchi repeated, stubbornly keeping his voice calm and wondering when he'd taken on the role of the rational adult in the argument. "It was my choice and I chose not to win."

Now it wasn't just Kaiba staring at him like a mer-freak in a bowl, it was the techies as well. Ol' Blue Eyes had the little tweak of an eyebrow that said he really, really, really wanted to go bang his head against a hard surface for a while until things made sense again. Because in Kaiba Seto's world, winning was everything.

Jounouchi scratched the back of his head, deciding to take pity on the guy. There was only so much someone like Kaiba could take before they snapped. And he really didn't want to end up as another dent in the wall. "Look, I entered the competition ta see how good I was, just like everyone else. I proved to myself that I could win if I wanted to and that was good enough for me."

"You -Quit-." Kaiba snarled, stepping forward, ready to strike.

"I -chose- not to win." Jounouchi snapped back, aiming a kick to Kaiba's head. Fuck it. If Kaiba wasn't going to listen to reason...

Kaiba blocked it with his arm... his left arm. It was like hitting a metal pipe with his shin. Jounouchi hopped up and down a little bit, trying to get the sting out. "I got my reasons fer it. And ain't a single one of them that I'm afraid of yer scrawny ass."

He then immediately had to duck as Kaiba aimed an open-handed strike of his own towards Jounouchi's head. "What happened to your 'Road to being a True Duellist?" Kaiba sneered. "Not giving up until you beat me in a duel?"

Since Jounouchi was already on the ground, he figured he might as well use it and spun on one foot, swinging the other leg out in an attempt to trip Kaiba. Kaiba dodged it by jumping backwards, not that Jounouchi was surprised. "I -haven't-. But I didn't want to win the Championship."

"NOT win?" Kaiba tried a kick and Jounouchi had to quickly scramble to avoid, accidentally knocking over Murphy-san's cup of coffee, spilling it all over one of the consoles. "You entered a tournament to NOT win?!" He sounded outraged by the thought of it.

"I wanted ta prove ta myself that I could beat ya." Jounouchi retorted. "And I did. But I also -thought- about what would happen if I did win and it wasn't worth it."

They traded a few blows, both rapidly striking and blocking, neither gaining ground before stepping apart and circling each other again. Kaiba fought with words, poison barbs on his tongue, but Jounouchi was more of a physical person when it came to confrontations.

"And -what- do you think would happen if you won?" Kaiba sneered, but his supposedly calm facade was broken by the fact that he was breathing kind of hard.

"Y'think I -want- people followin' me around to try ta duel me while m'tryin' to protect Mokuba? Bein' a True Duellist means I won't turn down a duel. I won't put Mokuba in danger just cause that some idiot challenges me at the wrong time. Ferget that! I ain't got nuthin' ta prove ta anyone anyway!" Jounouchi snapped, switching back to kicks. Kaiba tended to prefer to fight with his fists when he did fight, but Jounouchi preferred the good old-fashion boot to the head. "And Kaiba Corporation stocks go down every time ya publicly lose a duel. Dunno what you and Mokuba are up ta, but ya don't need that on top o'everythin' else! I'll beat yer scrawny ass, just not there."

"Fine." Kaiba straightened, looking like the immaculate business man he was some of the time. Jounouchi paused as well, but remained on guard for any surprise attacks. "We'll finish the duel now."

"No."

It wasn't often someone refused anything to the great mighty pain in the ass, Kaiba Seto.

"What?!"

It was even rarer that someone didn't back down when they did refuse.

"No."

Kaiba and Jounouchi glared at each other, neither willing to surrender the battle to the other.

Sparks flew.

One of the techies dove for a fire extinguisher as some of the napkins they were attempting to mop up Murphy-san's spilled coffee caught fire.

"This isn't Duellist Kingdom, Battle City, the Virtual World or Doma." Jounouchi growled. "And neither of us is Gozaburou. Losing Doesn't Equal Death."

Kaiba froze, like a physical strike had gotten through his guard. Jounouchi winced. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Look." He tried to start over, scratching the back of his head. There were things that they Didn't Talk About, and Fathers were at the top of the list. "You're the owner of the World's Largest and Best Gaming Corporation. When was the last time ya actually played?"

Kaiba opened his mouth and Jounouchi cut him off. "-Other than the Championship."

This time Kaiba didn't say anything. He knew as well as Jounouchi did that it would require a check of Kaiba's calendar going back at least a year or more.

Smoke filled the room.

Jounouchi ran a hand down his face. "I get my ass kicked couple times a week by Yuugi's 'Jiichan in Chess and Mah-jong, Shogi every Tuesday by the old farts in the park and Go every Thursday by a different group of old farts in the park. During the lunch breaks I play Poker with the security guys and play at the Kaiba Land Arcade and Laser Tag Arena whenever there's free time. -And- I duel almost every day either here or with Yuugi. I'm -still- on my path to a True Duellist. As far as I'm concerned, it wasn't a fair duel."

Kaiba bristled at the implication that the Championship wasn't fair.

"Tell ya what." Jounouchi dared, showing more fang than was polite for a grin. Oh, this was gonna piss Kaiba off but good... not that Ol Blue Eyes didn't deserve it. "You duel ten games, for no stakes other than for FUN and I'll fight ya."

That was the root of the problem right there... Kaiba duelled and fought for Victory. Jounouchi duelled for Fun, and fought for his Friends. But the big battles were over, even Jounouchi could sense that. The War between Light and Dark still raged on, but it was someone else's battle now.

He wondered what pissed Kaiba off more, the fact that Jounouchi could have actually beaten him in a fair fight, or the fact that Jounouchi had chosen not to pursue victory.

Kaiba glared at him, silently promising retribution for the conditions of the duel. "Deal." He growled offered his hand to shake.

"No paying or coercing anyone into it, Kaiba." Jounouchi took the offered hand and they shook. "Play for -fun-."

The look Kaiba had promised that it would be fun... for Kaiba. As he crushed his opponents beneath his Dragons' feet.

The ventilation system kicked in, clearing the smoke from the room, leaving a slightly scorched smell behind.

Eh, close enough. One step at a time.

And hey, he got Kaiba to duel him sometime without massive begging or taunting on Jounouchi's part. That was a first.

"I don't think we're going to be able to run any simulations today." Murphy-san's weary voice commented behind him.

"That's fine." Kaiba waved it off, turning and striding from the room.

Jounouchi followed him part-way, leaning out the door. "Hey, Blue Eyes!" He shouted down the corridor. "Any damages to the property will be taken out of your salary!!"

"It's MY damn building!" Kaiba roared back.

Jounouchi cackled.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto woke up feeling like he was seven point three five centimetres to the left of his body.

His head hurt, his throat ached and over all... It was not a pleasant way to wake up.

"There's tea next to your head." Jounouchi's calm voice commented. "And some pain killers."

"Wha-?" He sat up, his throat too thick to actually get the words out. Jounouchi wasn't in his usual place on the bed, instead he was straddling the computer chair across the room. Strangely, the blond had a paper mask over his face.

"You've been runnin' a high temp most of the day." Jounouchi informed him. "We've been worried about ya. Mokuba called in sick to school today, he and Noa are takin' care of the company, taking care of business through e-mail, phone calls and video messaging."

Noa could change shape and his voice. With Mokuba's security clearance, they could do just that, fill in for him without anyone realising he wasn't there.

The thought was both disturbing and comforting.

Jounouchi stood up with a sigh and walked over to his night stand, picking up a steaming cup of something and handing it to Kaiba. "Drink."

Kaiba took the mug and obeyed, flinching when the drink briefly scalded his tongue. But it did seem to ease some of the roughness in his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Weren't you the one who said that a fool can't catch a cold?" Jounouchi smirked back.

"Ha." He took another sip of the drink, revelling in the almost painful heat. "So you were elected to watch over me?"

"No." Jounouchi shook his head, taking a seat on Seto's bed, his tail flopping against Seto's legs. "I threw Mokuba and Noa out and wouldn't let them call the Docs."

"What?" Seto rested the mug on a thigh. "Why?"

Jounouchi took the mug from his fingers. "Check out yer hand, then ask me that again."

He looked down. Right hand looked the same as it always did. Left hand...

Left hand looked like it belonged to a Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Oh." He croaked. The silver blue armour that had formerly been protecting his forearm now covered his hand, giving him claws, and extended the other way up past his elbow, turning back to skin around his shoulder area.

"It's gotten better." Jounouchi said helpfully. "It used to go up to your collar bones."

"Oh." He wasn't wearing a shirt either. It was kind of cold without one. "Can I have the mug back?"

Jounouchi gave him a quizzical look, then carefully handed the mug back. "Thank you." He said quietly, drinking some more. He couldn't feel the heat of the mug with his left hand, but it was warming his right.

"Uh. Yeah. Right." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head. "So anyway. When your arm started to change, it kinda tore through the sleeve and ruined the shirt. So I took the rest of the shirt off, in case you started getting spiky or something."

"Ah." Spikes were Red Eyes Black Dragon's department, not Blue Eyes White Dragon. The Blue Eyes was much more sleek in its design.

"Kaiba?"

"Hmm?"

"Go back to sleep." Jounouchi rested a hand on his shoulder, where the armour met skin. "I don't think you're tracking what I'm saying."

Seto stared at the hand on his shoulder. Other than Mokuba, no one touched him. Why did Jounouchi touch him? If he was sick, wasn't Jounouchi afraid of catching his cold too? If being sick did that to Seto's arm, what would it do to Jounouchi?

"Here." Jounouchi removed the hand and took some pills off the night stand. "It's only some fever reducer, I don't know what would react with our body chemistry. I gave you some earlier when you weren't completely awake."

"Okay." He washed the tablets down with the tea, finishing off the mug. Jounouchi took the mug back, setting it down on the night stand again.

"Sleep." Jounouchi urged again, pushing him backwards. This time Seto didn't argue with him, letting the blond tuck him in as if he were a child and not a powerful businessman. "I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Okay." He agreed, already falling asleep. "Thank you... Katsuya..."

A pause followed, Jounouchi's hands straightening the duvet around Seto's shoulders. "You're welcome."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yo, Kaiba." Jounouchi stuck his head into the businessman's office. It was the end of the work day and time to go home. Kaiba held up a hand, signalling for silence, his other hand cradling the phone to his ear. Jounouchi did a double take, realising that Ol' Blue Eyes was actually -smiling-.

And it wasn't a creepy 'gonna rip to shreds and turn you into fodder for dragons' smile either. Ol' Blue Eyes seemed to be enjoying himself.

Feeling much like he was stepping into some strange alternate reality, he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

At least Ol' Blue Eyes didn't seem to be irritated anymore. Jounouchi had been worried about the strange silence he'd been getting since Kaiba found out what he, Noa and Mokuba had been up to while Kaiba had been sleeping off his cold in bed last week.

It was Mokuba's idea really, Jounouchi just had been a bit player. Once he'd been satisfied that Ol' Blue Eyes' fever had broke and Kaiba wasn't going to turn into some sort of scaly armoury monster, Mokuba had dragged Jounouchi to the offices and set him loose among the staff.

Kaiba had passed on to Mokuba about Jounouchi's enhanced olfactory system, so he'd wandered around with a couple of security guards looking for anyone who smelled sick. Security escorted those that Jounouchi picked out to a makeshift sick room, where Mokuba had some doctors and nurses set up to look people over. Once everyone had been checked out and the necessary prescriptions written, 'Kaiba Seto', actually Noa's changed image with Mokuba providing the words, informed them all that they were being sent home with a full days pay, and they were not to come back until they were healthy. Kaiba's limos (he had three of them, one for himself, one for Mokuba and one for guests) were then used as a taxi service, the cars stocked with hot tea and orange juice.

It caused quite a panic among staff, especially since Mokuba had asked him -not- to say what was going on. They couldn't exactly explain how Jounouchi 'just knew' who was sick and Kaiba's security staff -looked- intimidating. Even if half of them were addicted to Hello Kitty.

Kaiba had been less than thrilled to discover the usurpation in power, even after Mokuba had explained that the long term benefits --sick employees weren't productive and created more sick employees-- out weighed the short term benefits. And a lot of the employees were salary anyway, so it wasn't like the clocked hours mattered much. The employees who were out sick would come back refreshed and willing to work harder.

This still didn't mean that Kaiba hadn't been giving him dark looks for the past two days.

"I'm glad you enjoy the flowers..." Kaiba was saying. "I thought the Iris suited you better than roses. And they match your eyes."

Jounouchi paused. Flowers? Kaiba?! Eyes?!

What. The. Frack?

He sat down on one of Kaiba's uncomfortable guest chairs, then quickly stood up again as he sat on his tail causing a sharp pain to rise up his lower back. Glaring at the evil chairs, he perched on the edge of the desk instead.

"Yes. Yes." Kaiba nodded, still smiling. "I'll see you tonight... Seven. The limo will pick you up at your hotel. Right. See you then."

Kaiba hung up the phone, looking both amused and pleased. "I knew sending the dress would work." He grinned to himself, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"So... uh... ya got a date?" Jounouchi ventured.

"Yes." Kaiba agreed, picking up files and sticking them in his briefcase. "With a most beautiful and charming lady tonight."

"...Oh."

Kaiba.

Dating.

Jounouchi's stomach twisted and he wasn't sure if he -hadn't- just wandered to a different dimension. Dimensional travel always left him feeling queasy.

Kaiba was probably going out with someone smart, rich and perfect, who belonged in that sort of high class world. Someone who knew all the right things to say. Someone Stylish. Someone Beautiful. Someone Female.

... someone who wasn't a genetic reject.

"Jounouchi?" Kaiba was already at the door. "You coming?"

"Yeah." He shook off the strange thoughts and hopped off the desk, shoving his hands into his pockets as he caught up with Kaiba. "Sorry. Was spacing out."

Kaiba grunted in return, motioning for him to hurry up. Jounouchi did so, falling into step with the business man like he usually did. Jounouchi waved good night to the secretary, then followed Kaiba into the elevator, pressing the button for the parking level, where Mokuba and the limo were waiting.

"Do you mind making sure Mokuba gets to bed at a somewhat decent hour tonight?" Kaiba asked as they rode the elevator down.

"Sure." Jounouchi nodded. "No problem." Yup. Just an ordinary night in the life of Jounouchi Katsuya, bodyguard and baby sitter extraordinaire.

...Really.

He was still feeling queasy when the elevator doors opened again.

 

+++  
+++

 

The building was quiet when Seto finally arrived at his house. It was expected, it was later than he'd anticipated returning, but the silence always seemed to have a sinister edge to it, the ghosts of the past still haunting. It wasn't as noticeable during the day, or when Mokuba and Jounouchi were running around, but solitude at night seemed to amplify it.

The first thing he did, after undoing the bow-tie around his neck which always seemed to choke him in a way that the tightest turtleneck never seemed to, was to check on Mokuba.

His brother was sleeping soundly, sprawled out across the bed, one foot sticking out of the covers. His hair was pooled out over the pillow in a messy braid, something Kujaku had suggested to make it easier to brush out in the mornings. Noa was curled up into a ball, floating above the bed like a deranged night-light. Seto still had mixed feelings about the biological son of Gozaburou sharing a room with his little brother despite assurances from several people, but it made Mokuba happy, so he held his tongue.

Seto removed the vindictive bow all together and unbuttoned the shirt cuffs as he approached his bedroom. He paused outside the door, and then slowly opened it, peering inside, much the same as he had when he'd checked on Mokuba.

Jounouchi was curled up on the bed, fast asleep, one bare shoulder highlighted by the light from the window. Seto breathed a silent sigh of... something to himself and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the bed, watching the steady in-out of the blond's breathing.

It was... reassuring to find Jounouchi here. Usually either Seto went to bed first or they both climbed into bed at the same time, so he wasn't sure if the blond would sleep in his own room tonight. He leaned over, fingertips brushing the golden fringe that covered Jounouchi's face, a liberty he would not have taken if the blond hadn't been asleep.

Jounouchi shifted, one ear twitching as his eyes opened slightly. "Hey." The blond said by way of sleepy greeting.

"Hey, yourself." Seto straightened up, regretfully removing his hand. "I just got back."

"Welcome Home." Jounouchi yawned, a sliver of tongue sliding out of his mouth.

What a strange comment. Mokuba usually said 'Welcome Back', the mansion was where they lived was just that, where they lived. They hadn't had a home since their parents died. Although he had noticed how much he enjoyed returning here lately. The place wasn't quite as... dark as it has had in the past.

He paused, watching as the blond fell back to sleep, his breathing dropping off almost immediately. It struck him as sort of odd, Jounouchi curled up on -top- of the duvet with only a blanket covering him. Certainly it had been that way since the blond had started sleeping on the bed, but... it felt strange. He nudged the blond. "Oi. Get under the blankets."

"Nggh?" Jounouchi raised his head from the pillow to look at him, eyes only open part way. "Huh?"

Seto tugged on the duvet the blond was sleeping on. "Get under the duvet, Jounouchi."

The blond looked at him strangely for a moment, then obeyed, gracelessly climbing under the thick blue duvet and stretching out. He was apparently fast sleep the moment his head hit the pillow again. Seto chuckled to himself, pulling the duvet up to cover Jounouchi's shoulders. "I'm going to take a shower." He informed Jounouchi. "Wash this party off. I'll be back shortly."

Jounouchi made a muttered comment back, which could have been anything from 'okay, see you then' to 'rot in hell, ya bastard'.

Seto smiled back, just slightly. Something about Jounouchi -in- his bed as opposed to -on- his bed felt... better. Less of a question of where Jounouchi belonged. Besides, only pets slept on top of the covers. People slept under them.

He collected his pyjamas from of 'his' side of the bed, tossed the tie and the jacket over the computer chair and stalked into the bathroom. The bathroom lights blinded him momentarily when he turned them on, but his eyes quickly adjusted and he set the pyjamas on the counter. He usually showered after sparring in the morning, but he wanted the stale stench of perfume, cigar smoke and alcohol -off- of him.

He took a brisk shower, focusing on getting clean as fast as possible, dried off and got into his pyjamas. He debated a moment before putting on the black bracer that covered the silver skin on his arm, then decided to leave it off. If Jounouchi could look at himself in the mirror every day, Seto could do no less.

The change from light to dark caused him to falter slightly, until he heard a shift from the bed and one of the lamps on the night stand turned on, Jounouchi's arm reaching out from under the covers. The blond was sprawled out over half the bed. It was a trick Mokuba could do and a calculation he'd never been able to figure out, why the smaller the person was, the more room they took up when they slept.

"Thanks." He made his way over to his side of the bed and slid under the duvet. Jounouchi shifted his limbs, making room for him. Where the blond had been was warm, the rest of the cotton sheets were cool.

"Welcome." Jounouchi mumbled. "Y'have fun?"

"It was... better than anticipated." Seto smiled slightly. "Kujaku sends her greetings."

He was glad that Jounouchi had left the light on, so he could see the blond's wide eyed startled expression as Jounouchi half sat up, moving the duvet as he did so. "Mai?!"

"Yes." Seto rested his hands on his chest, placing a serene expression on his face. "I rarely mix business with pleasure, but she was my 'date' for this evening's Charity Soiree. In addition to being a highly entertaining companion, she finally agreed to be a guest lecturer at Duel Academia when it starts up."

"Eh? Whaddya mean 'finally'?" Jounouchi asked, propping himself up on an arm.

"I've been 'courting' Kujaku-san for months to work for me." Seto was still smug about her agreeing. There was something about the thrill of the chase, the sweetness of victory. Although he'd been hoping to have her work for him full time, not just occasionally. But Kujaku was a wanderer and he couldn't fault her for wanting the time to travel. This would just put a little extra cash in her pocket to do so. "She also makes a pleasant dinner companion, one of the few women I've met who actually has a brain under that mane of hair that understands the nuances of Duelling."

Jounouchi chuckled. "Yeah, that she does. How's she doin'?"

"Cheerful, as far as I could tell." Seto smirked. "The topic of conversation generally revolved around Duelling or you." The two things that they had had in common.

"Eh?" Jounouchi looked at him with wide eyes, and then blushed slightly.

"So is it true that your sister helped convince you that Kujaku had died at the end of Battle City?"

"She told you about that?!" Jounouchi looked irate. "Mai! I'm gonna strangle her the next time I see her!"

Seto chuckled. That had been the lead in to the story as well, Kujaku commenting Jounouchi would kill her for telling Seto the story. Jounouchi stopped his growling to stare at him, brown eyes wide in surprise. The shock melted into a small amused smile that made Seto feel self-conscious. Was it really so strange to see him laugh?

Jounouchi rested his head back on his pillow, still smiling. "So ya did have fun."

"Reasonably." Seto granted. "The next time she is in town, I may invite her to another one of these functions. It is a rather pleasant novelty to have someone interested in my social connections rather than my business or personal ones. I believe she was also trying to sound out how you might react to her asking your sister out on a date while she is in town."

What ever reaction Seto had been expecting from Jounouchi, a wide-eyed stare followed by burrowing his face in the pillow to muffle barks of laughter was not it. A tension in the blond's shoulders seemed to dissipate as he did so.

".... Jounouchi?" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Katsuya? Has the rest of your flea-bitten mind rotted away?"

"No... no..." Jounouchi raised his head out of the pillow, brushing against Seto's arm where the silver amour turned back into flesh as he did so. The blond grinned sheepishly, eyes bright with suppressed amusement. "Just... If you see her before I do, tell her that she already has my blessing."

"Will do." Seto agreed. "Are you feeling well?"

"Just fine." Jounouchi assured him, a broad grin on his face. "So... anythin' exciting happen?"

"Other than a rousing game of comparing business moguls to various Duel Monsters, not really." It was an old game he used to play with Mokuba and had been quietly surprised to discover that they were not the only ones to come up with the diversion.

Jounouchi chuckled, laying his head back down and sprawling out again. The blond's leg brushed against Seto's and he had to repress the urge to shift his leg away. He'd forgotten that Jounouchi had a habit of moving a lot in his sleep, and with him sleeping under the blankets instead of on top of them, there was not longer that barrier between them.

The thought was metaphorical as it was literal.

"Lights out?" Jounouchi questioned.

"Yes." Seto nodded. "The morning schedule is clear, so there is no reason to rise at the usual time." A chance to sleep in was rare and not to be wasted, even for sparring practise.

"Speak for yourself." Jounouchi yawned, reaching out and turning off the light. The darkness seemed to close in around them like a gentle blanket. "I still hafta get Mokuba up and to school."

"You will probably have time for a nap before I wake up." Seto assured him, closing his eyes. "Good night, Katsuya."

"G'night." Jounouchi wiggled slightly, getting comfortable, then appeared to relax and drift off. "Pleasant dreams... Seto."

"You too."

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto was not annoyed. He was not frustrated. He was not about to slam his fists against the desk, tap his foot or growl in annoyance because any of these things would wake up Jounouchi, who was asleep under his desk and most likely drooling on one of Seto's boots.

The take-over of Industrial Illusions was taking longer than expected. Tenma had obviously learned from Pegasus' tactics and had made Industrial Illusions resistant to the same tactics that they had used. So much for using irony as a weapon.

And the little fishes were apparently sensing a change in the waters and were starting to nose around.

Seto glowered and hit the video-com button to connect with Mokuba's laboratory. The KC logo on the screen flickered a few moments before it connected, showing Mokuba typing away at a keyboard.

"Mokuba..." He trailed off as he noticed what appeared to be a small super deformed version of Noa attempting to eat a partially eaten chocolate bar resting on the table next to Mokuba's elbow. Seeing as the chocolate bar was solid and Noa was not, the green haired boy was not making much progress. "... What happened to Noa?"

"A minor technical iss- ACHOOO!" Mokuba sneezed. With a small cloud of virtual smoke, Noa returned to his normal size and appearance, looking dazed and confused as to why his head was halfway through the table. Noa wandered off. "-Issue." Mokuba sniffed, and then wiped his nose with the back of a sleeve. "I'm working on it. What's up?"

"I was wondering about the virtues of taking over Schroeder Corporation and putting Mutou in charge of it." Seto deadpanned. After all, Yuugi had been there for the defeat of Siegfried von Schroider and his brother Leonhart during the KC Grand Championship. The former King of Games surely could make the rival corporation profitable for Kaiba Corporation.

Mokuba gave him a look that was wholly unimpressed. "No, 'Niisama."

"I'm sure Mutou could do a good job." Seto not quite needled.

"'Niisama, we're not buying out rival gaming companies because they're annoying you." Mokuba chided. He paused, and then sneezed again. Chibi-Noa was back, voraciously attacking the chocolate bar with gusto again. And making as much progress as he had the first time. "Ahh! Noa!"

Seto turned off the video-com button with a jab of a finger. "Drat."

 

+++  
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"Oh, hey." Jounouchi poked Mokuba's sleeve. "I just noticed, you're not wearing stripes." That was unusual. While Mokuba had a reasonable amount of fashion sense when it came to dressing everyone else, he was exorbitantly fond of bright stripes and loud clashing colours. Although Jounouchi still hadn't forgiven him for trying to dress him up like a pirate that one time.

Mokuba gave him a strange look, then glanced at his brother. Kaiba stared back, the two of them in silent communication. Noa looked confused. Jounouchi hesitated as he realised that he'd said something wrong, but wasn't quite sure what it was. "What?" He finally demanded.

"Jounouchi." Kaiba said, opening an art program on his computer. Kaiba fiddled with it for a moment, then held several papers to the side of the monitor to hide it from Jounouchi's view for a moment before removing them. "What is the difference between these two colours?"

Jounouchi gave him a look to silently communicate that Kaiba was clearly off his rocker, then looked at the square on the screen. "Um... nothing? Looks the same ta me."

Kaiba and Mokuba shared looks again. Noa fidgeted anxiously.

"Jounouchi...." Kaiba fiddled with the art program again, bringing up a gradient scale. He covered half the monitor with the papers so Jounouchi couldn't see the controls. "What's the difference between this-" He did something fiddly with the mouse. "-And this?"

"Not a thing." Jounouchi announced.

"Nothing?" Mokuba repeated, leaning over the desk. Kaiba removed the paper, running his mouse up and down a gradient scale. The large square gradient to the right flickered slightly as he did so.

"Nope!" Jounouchi cheerfully agreed. He paused, belatedly realising what the Kaiba brothers were figuring out. "Oh, that was two different colours?"

He got three incredulous stares in return. Despite the lack of blood between Noa and the other two, they looked like they all could have come from the same parents, the resemblance was striking. Jounouchi quickly decided against mentioning that, Kaiba still was nervous around Noa. And vice versa.

"Jounouchi..." Mokuba ventured, looking like he wanted to be told wrong. "You can't tell?"

"Nope. It's all grey to me." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head nervously. Most of the time it was okay, but if two colours were too close to the same shade he saw it as just one colour. Probably what happened with Mokuba's shirt. It was stripes, just not enough contrast between the colours and shades for him to tell.

"I thought you could still see some colours." Mokuba said hesitantly.

"Eh, guess not anymore." Jounouchi shrugged. "It's been fading out for a while, prolly finally cut out. No biggie." Actually it was a bit of a shock, but nothing he hadn't been expecting for a while. And if he freaked out, Mokuba and Kaiba would freak out and it wasn't worth the energy to calm them down.

"You call me 'Blue Eyes'." Kaiba said softly. Jounouchi glanced at him, then did a slight double take. Kaiba's face was placid at first glance, but there was a tightness to his jaw and around his eyes that was Kaiba-speak for hurt or anger.

"I call you 'Ol' Blue Eyes'." He corrected, reaching out and cupping Kaiba's face, drawing it up so that he could see Kaiba's eyes. "I still remember what colour they are. It's just that now I see it in my mind."

He could too. The same bright blue as the Blue Eyes White Dragon's eyes before they attacked. The deep cerulean that wasn't found in either the sea or the sky. The memory of that overlapped what he could actually see. Kaiba looked slightly trapped at the contact and he patted the billionaire's cheek reassuringly before releasing him.

"And you." He reached over and ruffled Mokuba's hair, purposely lightening the atmosphere. "Your eyes haven't changed a bit."

"Hey!" Mokuba yelped, smoothing his hair out as he mock scowled. Okay, that wasn't quite true either, Mokuba's eyes used to go more of a violet colour when he was pissed, but he didn't need to know that.

"And sorry, Noa." Jounouchi shrugged. "Never got a good look at your eyes, but you'll always be green-haired to me."

"Thanks." Noa said dryly, running a hand over his hair. Actually, Noa had blue eyes too, but they weren't the same shade as Kaiba's. And he hadn't seen Noa up close until after he'd gone all doggish, so the colours would have been off anyway. At least his scent hadn't changed at all, it was still electronics.

"Anytime." Jounouchi grinned back, relieved that one potential mine field had been defused. "So. Anyway. What are we going to have for dinner tonight?" As if they didn't have anything waiting for them at home.

"Pizza!"

"-Not- Pizza."

"Cookies!"

Everyone turned and stared at Noa, who smiled back innocently. "What? You know, cookies? Little bytes of information? Good with chocolate chips or raisins?"

"...Right...." Jounouchi was surrounded by -geeks-.

And worse yet, they were all KAIBA.

 

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It wasn't that Seto didn't like Noa. Well, he didn't, but that was beside the point. He didn't -trust- Noa, and that was the real point.

But Mokuba both trusted and liked the green haired boy. More than liked, if Seto was being honest with himself. Which he generally was, in all matters other than those that concerned his little brother. There he had a bit of a wilful blind spot. However, he was aware of this blind spot and didn't let it get in the way of things.

Such as keeping his brother safe.

When Mokuba had first brought up the subject of bringing Noa back, Seto had agreed to it for a number of reasons. The main one being he didn't think it could be done. The other one being it gave Mokuba something to do that he was interested in, a chance to test and stretch his skills.

But now, like it or not, Noa was a bright green-haired reality in their lives. And Seto wasn't entirely comfortable with that.

Which was the point of today's exercise. He had 'invited' Noa into his office for a discussion. But before the discussion could start, he had been called out of his office on an urgent call, leaving several sensitive documents on the desk and the still active computer.

The 'urgent' call was completely fabricated, of course. As were the so-called sensitive documents. It was a test. Not something that Seto was completely proud of himself for, but something he felt that needed to be done.

He needed to know how far he could trust Noa.

It had been almost an hour, past the point were most people would have started fidgeting and looking around for something to do. But after the first ten minutes, when the virtual boy had moved from the other side of the desk to the large windows that dominated the back of the office that looked out over the city, Noa hadn't given the desk a second glance.

He'd been looking out of the window the entire time, his hands resting against the windows as he watched the people below. It was almost time for Mokuba and Jounouchi to arrive from school and Noa was probably looking for them.

Seto sighed, realising it was time. Noa, whether he meant to or not, had passed Seto's little test. Turning from the security cameras he'd put in the room for the occasion, separate from the rest of the network, he walked back to his office.

His secretary glanced up at him with a polite nod before returning to her own work. He opened the door and walked inside.

Noa turned to look at him, his hand still pressed against the window. "My apologises for being so late." Seto said mildly as he shut the door behind him.

"It's okay." Noa smiled back in return, but it was clear that he had seen through the pleasantries as a lie. "I'm sure you were busy."

"Indeed." Seto agreed, tilting a head towards the desk and the large chair that rested behind it. "Would the chair not have been more comfortable?"

Noa stared at him for a moment. "No." He finally said with a shake of his head.

"Oh?" Seto allowed a small amount of surprise to colour his tone. "Why not?"

"Because the Head of Kaiba Corporation sits there." Noa turned his head back towards the window, watching the people outside. "And I have no interest in it."

"The company or in being in charge of it?" Seto queried.

"Both." Noa shrugged. "Neither. Both of them belong to you, I am not going to contest you for them, Seto."

"Again, you mean." Seto drawled, striding towards the chair and sitting down on it.

"Does it matter?" Noa asked, sounding strangely hollow. "You won. I am not going to claim otherwise. The name, the company, it's all yours. I would not be a suitable head of the company anyway."

"Because you are Virtual?" Seto asked quietly. It was not a fact that he was attempting to rub in, but he wanted to know Noa's motivations.

"No. Because while I may have the knowledge to run the company, I lack experience." Noa gave a soft half-shrug. "You're doing a better job than I would have, anyway."

The green-haired boy's voice was calm, but his hands were pressed into fists against the glass. They were both aware that if Noa had succeeded in taking over Seto's body, or if he had lived, instead of being killed in a car accident and turned into a virtual construct, that Kaiba Corporation would still be making weapons of mass destruction. And doing well at it.

A beep sounded from Seto's computer. Mokuba and Jounouchi were inside the building, on their way here.

"I do not trust you." Seto said bluntly. "You tried to kill us, and take Kaiba Corporation and Mokuba from me." The last was the worst. And that for a short while, Noa had almost succeeded.

"I know." Noa said sadly.

"But." Seto continued. "Mokuba does trust you. What more, he cares for you. If you do anything to harm him, I will not hesitate to have Yuugi turn what remains of a soul in you into a card, rip the card to pieces, burn it with a great vengeance, then destroy what remains of your technological body beyond repair. Just so we are clear."

Noa looked at him in confusion. Before his confusion could be erased, Mokuba and Jounouchi stumbled through the doorway, grinning and mock wrestling. "Hey, 'Niisama." Mokuba greeted him happily. The grin was replaced by confusion as he spotted Noa. "Noa?"

Seto reached into a desk drawer and pulled out two cylindrical objects, one of which he tossed to Mokuba. "Catch."

Mokuba did so, inspecting it. "It looks like the prototype for the latest Duel Disk." Mokuba mused as he inspected it before slipping the gauntlet on. "Minus the duelling platforms."

"Noa's inability to remain solid was not a programming problem, but a hardware one." Seto explained, handing the second one to Jounouchi as the blond draped himself over the back of Seto's chair. "The projectors could not handle the feedback necessary for his systems to actually feel what he was touching. These should take care of most of the problem. The projectors in the building are also currently undergoing an upgrade to handle it."

He picked up a remote, turning off the Solid Vision projectors that were hidden in the room and turning the Solid System ones on. Noa flickered momentarily, then clicked solid, like a picture that had been slightly out of focus.

"Noa?" Mokuba questioned cautiously as Noa patted himself down.

"I..." There was a look of wonderment in the virtual boy's eyes as he looked at them. "I'm -solid-. I... Thank-"

Seto waved it off. "Thank Mokuba." He said gruffly. "He's the one who brought you back."

Noa did as instructed, throwing himself at Mokuba, who caught him. The two hugged each other, jabbering triumphantly as they patted each other, feeling the different textures of cloth, skin and hair.

Jounouchi patted Seto's head, chuckling fondly. "You softie."

"I am not." Seto glared back. "Mokuba would have figured out how to do it sooner or later. And while technology may not be advanced enough yet to create a bionic body, we can at least do -that-."

"I wouldn't want a bionic body." Noa said happily, one arm wrapped around Mokuba. "I'm -human-, not a machine. And this way, I'm a ghost!" As if to prove it, Noa faded from sight, starting at the feet and disappearing upwards.

"Noa-niichan!" Mokuba scolded. "Get back here!" His brother's hair was tugged at, Noa's body reappearing as the two laughed.

"You are a ghost with a job to do." Seto corrected. "There are no freeloaders here. The next Multiplayer Role-Playing Game is scheduled to hit the markets next month, it's going to need a Master Game Moderator. And since you have so much knowledge at your disposal, you may as well use it to gain some experience."

"'Niisama!" Mokuba's grin stretched from ear to ear. "You mean that?"

"Can you think of someone better qualified?" Seto growled. Noa had already shown how well he could manage a multi-user virtual world. And while he wouldn't have the same amount of powers there as he did when he attempted to steal their bodies, Noa could keep the problematic players in line. It would give him something to do while Mokuba was at school or working. This would also be an excellent test of test Noa's multi-tasking abilities.

... And it would save Seto from having to find, screen and train someone to handle the responsibilities. There would still be a few human moderators, but they would defer to Noa. And no one outside of those currently in the room need to know that Noa had no physical body. After all, it was a Virtual World.

Although Seto had placed a few precautions, making sure that people could only return back to their original bodies. He'd learned his lesson about body swapping the first time.

"I... Thank you." Noa walked over to Seto and gave him a low bow. "-I may be 'Niichan', or 'Niisan', but you're Mokuba's only 'Niisama'." Noa confided softly, so that Mokuba couldn't hear the comment.

Seto grunted in return, waving it off. "Your physical status is still dependant on either Mokuba or Jounouchi's presence and you will continue to be monitored, so don't be too grateful." He still only trusted Noa so far after all. He'd also made sure to tweak Noa's coding so that the green-haired boy was limited in his shape-shifting capabilities. The possibility of Noa taking on his appearance again was a security risk that he was not willing to over look. There were enough potential hazards in this alone.

He got an infuriatingly happy smile in return, before Mokuba joined them with what sounded like a war whoop, tossing his arms around Seto's neck. "Thank you, 'Niisama!"

"Whatever." He growled, but gave his brother a quick hug in return. "Now get out of here. Some of us have work to accomplish today."

"Come on, 'Niichan!" Mokuba cheered, grabbing Noa's hand, for real this time, not just gauging where Noa's hand would be to give the illusion of doing so. "Before he changes his mind!" The two boys ran out of the office, laughing.

Seto growled in return, mostly because he was expected to, then picked up his computer glasses and put them on, shuffling the fake classified reports away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jounouchi watching him with a dopey grin on the blond's face. "Don't you have work to do somewhere else?" He grumbled.

"Ya big softie." Jounouchi repeated with a chuckle. Seto glared at him. Jounouchi grinned back, then turned and casually wandered out, to cause havoc or what ever he did this time of day.

It was only after everyone had left and the door was shut that Seto allowed himself to smile.

 

+++  
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Jounouchi leaned against the school wall, looking up at the sky as he ate his ice cream cone and sighed. The seasons were changing, autumn's cold rainy weather was starting to move in. Soon he'd have to start wearing that frock coat again, it'd be too cold to go around in short sleeves and a long sleeved shirt around his waist. On the positive side, he could wear hats again without people looking at him like he was crazy.

Funny to think that in the spring Mokuba would be starting High School. Time went by so fast...

"Excuse me." He glanced over at the young woman who had stopped next to him. "Are you Jounouchi Katsuya?"

"Last time I checked..." He said cautiously. "And you are?"

"Jinnai Nanami." The young woman with short hair held back with a head band beamed at him. "I'm with Fuji TV."

That would explain the long suffering man with the camera on his shoulder behind her. "... I see."

"Can I get an interview with you?" Nanami continued brightly.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me for bein' blunt, but why?" He wasn't anyone important, or hell, even all that interesting.

"Are you kidding?!" She squealed. "You came in second in the Duel Monsters Championships. You hang out with the most powerful man in town! You're cute! What's not to want to know more about?"

"Oh... kay." Nut case. Definite nut case. "You're not one of those tabloid people who are gonna take anything I say and twist it around to make it look like something it's not, are you?"

"Puh-leeze." She waved it off. "I am a -serious- news reporter. This'll be a human interest piece."

Jounouchi scratched his head. Well, Kaiba had warned him that he'd probably get interviewed sooner or later. And now that he thought about, Mokuba had almost certainly known something like this would happen today. "Okay, fine. Mokuba gets out in about ten minutes, that enough time?"

"Pefect!" Nanami beamed.

"-But I reserve the right to not answer any stupid questions." He growled.

"Not a problem!" She did a quick check of her hair and make up while Jounouchi checked the headphones he was wearing and continued to lick his ice cream cone, watching her in amusement. The cameraman adjusted the cameral on his shoulder then counted down with his fingers. Three... Two... One... "Hi, I'm Jinnai Nanami with Fuji TV and today we're interviewing Champion Duellist Jounouchi Katsuya."

Jounouchi waved, then belatedly realised he was still holding his ice cream cone and quickly tried to hide it. Or at least lower it out of the camera picture. Oops.

"First question, just to get it out of the way." Nanami winked cheerfully at him. "What is your opinion about the rumours that are flying around about you and Kaiba Seto?"

Jounouchi chuckled at the question. Good way to get more dirt on him if she was looking for it, as well as a good opportunity for him to clear the air. "Personally, I think people have too much time on their hands, but not a huge surprise." He grinned back and shrugged. "Me and Yuugi have been Best Friends since our first year in High School, so we've been close fer years. But Kaiba doesn't let many people get near to him, so I guess people are gonna speculate there."

"You said that you and Yuugi have been friends for years, did you mean Mutou Yuugi, the King of Games?"

"He hates it when people call them that, but yeah." Jounouchi nodded. "That Yuugi."

"Did Mutou-san teach you Duel Monsters?" Nanami questioned. "Or did you learn it together?"

"Yuugi taught me how to play about a week before Duellist Kingdom. We've been duellin' each other ever since." Jounouchi nodded. He realised that his ice cream was starting to melt all over his hand and quickly licked the dribbling part.

Nanami looked slightly confused. "Didn't you take second place in Duellist Kingdom?"

"Yup." He got the last bit off his hand. He quickly debated about shoving the whole thing into his mouth just to get rid of it, then decided against it, mostly because of the brain freeze factor. "Probably woulda gotten third if Kaiba had participated." Kaiba hadn't really been participating in the tournament, he had been there to get his company and his brother back, he'd never been registered. And then he'd spent a good portion of the end stuck in a card, so it didn't really count.

"And then Fourth in Battle City, you didn't place in the KC Grand Prix and most recently Second in the Championships." Nanami commented. "A rather up and down duelling career."

Jounouchi shrugged. He had a deck based on luck, what could he say? "Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some." Siegfried had been cheating during the Grand Prix, having hacked into the Duel Disk systems. In a fair duel, Jounouchi could beat his sparkling pink ass. Kaiba would point out that not all duels are fair and he should have been able to win regardless, but that was Kaiba for you.

"And now you work for Kaiba Corporation." Nanami said. "What is your job there?"

"Lots of things, really." Jounouchi scratched the back of his head with his non-ice cream holding hand. "Officially, I'm Mokuba's personal Bodyguard. But I also work with Kaiba Corporation Security, guard Kaiba -not that Ol' Blue Eyes needs it-, run errands around the offices and beta test the upcoming games and systems. Wait until you see some of the new stuff, it ROCKS."

He was rather proud of some of the new equipment coming out, even if sometimes the job was a bit hazardous to his health. Kaiba was using him as a marker for 'an average duellist', because Jounouchi knew what happened during 'an average tournament'. The one time they'd found out that some of the electrical wires had a habit of freeing themselves if the disk was jostled too much hadn't been fun. He had thought his hair was never going to de-frizz after that. Any of his hair.

Nanami looked torn between confused and amused. "Ol' Blue Eyes?"

"Uh... oh. Oops. Crap." He gave the newswoman a pleading look. Kaiba was going to -kill- him. "Could we edit that part out?"

"You call your boss 'Ol' Blue Eyes'?" Nanami was looking distinctly amused now.

"Yeah, well. When I first started workin' there, we didn't get along so good. And I couldn't call him 'ba-" Wait. He couldn't call Kaiba 'bastard' on television. Or Moneybags, or Jerk-Face or Ass-hat. "-any of that stuff we used to insult each other with in school, so I started callin' him that instead. Y'know, like his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Which ya don't wanna call funny names either."

"You used to go to school with Kaiba Seto?"

"Sure. So did Yuugi." Jounouchi shrugged and licked the ice cream that was melting off his hand again. "We weren't in any of the same classes, but we'd insult each other in the hallways. Mostly over duelling, cause he was always mad at Yuugi for beatin' him and Yuugi wouldn't insult him back. But we weren't friends or nothin'."

Nanami smirked. "But you're friends now."

"We're not killing each other." Jounouchi corrected. Yeah, okay so maybe they were friends, they were occasionally on a first name basis and they shared a bed, but no one else needed to know that.

"New question." Nanami said, pointing to his waist. "The flared fabric. That's new. You're not picking up on Kaiba-san's dressing habits, are you?"

"Nope." Jounouchi grinned. "Is just comfortable." Another bad thing to say on public news: Mokuba dresses me funny.

"And yet since you've started working for Kaiba Corporation, you've been seen almost exclusively in long coats or with shirts tied around your waist." Nanami pressed. "You're not hiding something back there, are you?"

"Nah." He gave a silent thanks to Mokuba as he licked the ice cream off his hand again then untied the long sleeved shirt around his waist. It was a bit tricky with the ice cream cone in his hand, but he managed. As he removed the shirt, he hit a button on what looked like a cd player that was clipped to his waistband.

Mokuba had been excited about having come up with a solution to the 'hiding the tail' problem. The result was a grey sock thing that covered his tail. Rather boring really, until Mokuba had explained that the grey material was made up of panels, part of each panel being a camera, the other part being a Solid Vision projection device. The projection devices showed what ever the cameras on the opposite side were seeing.

The result was that the tail was rendered almost completely invisible. There was a bit of a warping effect, but nothing the eye couldn't ignore. And since he wore his shirts untucked, the material covered where the tail came out of the jeans.

The battery for it was hidden in the fake cd player, which gave him an excuse to wear headphones to cover his ears. Mokuba had said that they could replace the headset with a different one that would project the illusion of hair over his ears or even project human ears where they should be. But such projections took up a lot of energy and batteries could only store so much. And such devices could, and would, spectacularly fail.

No, if he was going to hide in plain sight, he preferred to hide in plain sight, without the fancy gizmos. Well, most of the time anyway.

He did a quick check to make sure that the device was working properly before removing the shirt completely, then turned around. "See? Nothing of interest back there."

Perhaps nothing of interest to -him-, but Nanami seemed to think otherwise as she hissed for the cameraman to get a good shot. Jounouchi gave her a funny look, shook out the shirt and re-tied it around his waist.

"So, um." Nanami cleared her throat, blushing slightly. "I suppose you must work out a lot. Fighting as a bodyguard and all."

"I'm not the best fighter out there, but I get by." Jounouchi dismissed it, stumbling to re-tie the knot with the ice cream starting to melt down his hand again. The last thing he wanted was people to show up and challenge him to fights, just because they thought he was bragging about being the best or something. "Kaiba's damn good at fighting though. I spar with him often. Though sometimes-" He was cut off by the sound of cheers, jeers and yells from the school yard.

Mokuba was officially out of school.

"Hold this." He demanded, handing her the ice cream cone. His hands free, he tied the shirt securely around his waist as he as he ran for the gate. There was a crowd of students in a circle there, cheering. Jounouchi waded through them, suspecting he'd find the youngest Kaiba in the middle. He was correct, Mokuba was fighting with a boy he'd been complaining about for the past week or so. He separated the two of them by the simple expedient of grabbing Mokuba by the collar, hoisting him up in the air and tossing him over a shoulder like a sack of rice flour. Mokuba screamed, kicking his legs and waving his fists as he tried to get back down and fight. Jounouchi waded back out, a job made easier by the people now scrambling to get out of his way.

"PUT ME DOWN!! THE BASTARD TRIED TO-" Jounouchi tuned out the list of explicatives that Mokuba usually would scold him for saying, managing to stop one of Mokuba's feet from hitting him in the face in the process. He certainly hadn't taught Mokuba all of those. "-STEAL NOA!!!"

"Sometimes I -really- don't know who I'm guarding-" Jounouchi grumbled, taking the ice cream cone back from the stunned looking news woman as he passed her on the way to the limo. He shoved the remains of the ice cream cone into his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing it. "-The Kaiba or everyone else. Mokuba, you're grounded as soon as I talk to your brother. Nanami-san, thanks for the interview. Sorry for cutting it short."

"No problem." She squeaked as she waved good-bye.

 

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Security paged him, there was a bit of a disturbance outside involving Jounouchi, Mokuba and a middle aged man who was pestering them. Or more appropriately, pestering Jounouchi. The blond appeared to be losing his temper, something that was worrying Fuguta, the Head of Security, who had never seen him other than pleasantly cheerful, even while wiping the floor with someone.

He ordered them to monitor, but hang back unless the blond asked for help. Jounouchi could take care of this himself; it was his job after all.

He pulled up the camera feed however, to monitor how well Jounouchi handled this. The bodyguard got Mokuba inside the building, then turned around and appeared to verbally tear the person a new one, obviously ordering him to leave and then walked inside while the person appeared to attempt to process this. Once inside, Jounouchi made a beeline for the elevator that headed up to the main offices.

The elevators were for Kaiba Corporation employees, they wouldn't open without a security pass. To get to the level that the CEO's offices were on, you either needed one of the communicators that the Kaiba brothers and Jounouchi wore, or to be buzzed up by his secretary. Once inside the elevators, there was no way for anyone off the street to follow.

Yet follow the man attempted. The man marched doggedly into the building, obviously intent on finishing the argument.

To be stopped not by security or Jounouchi, who had disappeared into the elevator, but by one of the Blue Eyes White Dragons that occupied the area above the lobby. The angry Blue Eyes dove towards the doors, its form fading and melting away until there was only Noa's slender form left, descending from the ceiling like a wrathful genie.

Noa stopped in front of the man, hovering just above the man's height, forcing the man to look up. Obviously an intimidation tactic, but it worked, the man stopped to stare at the floating boy. So did quite a few other people, the Solid Vision creatures usually did not descend from their floating domain unless it was to meet a Duellist. Which this man obviously was not.

The green-haired boy greeted the man as Jounouchi's Father, in a tone that probably should have had icicles dripping from each letter. Considering the control Noa had over the projectors, the idea was not all that far fetched.

And now that Noa had pointed it out, the similarities were there. In the breadth of the shoulders and the pale hair. But while Jounouchi's was golden blond, this man's hair was faded, slightly oily. A blue collar working man for all accounts and purposes. Jounouchi rarely mentioned his family, other than his sister whom he adored.

Noa then proceeded to deduce the purpose for the man's visit, pointing out that the man had never made an effort to contact his son previous to this. Considering the debt that a quick credit check had pulled up and the fact that Jounouchi had worked to cover his father's debts from middle school until he'd been kicked out of the house, the man had most likely seen Jounouchi's interview on television and come begging.

And in doing so, had angered Jounouchi and scared Mokuba. Perhaps 'scared' wasn't the right word, but it had certainly alarmed Mokuba. Which was most likely why Noa had made an appearance, he was fiercely protective of Mokuba, which also carried over to the blond.

Noa requested the man to leave. The man's response was not audible, nor did it need to be. The fist -through- Noa's immaterial face spoke louder than words.

Noa, before his first death, had practised martial arts. A fact that was made very clear as the ghost of a boy -launched- the man out of the doors in a precise series of spins, his arms and feet making solid contact.

Silence not-quite filled the large room as those who could see what happened froze.

Seto decided it was time to step in. He hit the button for the intercom for the lower floor. "Noa, report to the head office. Noa, report to the head office immediately."

On camera, the green-haired boy froze, looking extremely guilty. "Oh, shit."

Seto toggled through a couple of other windows, double checking where his brother and guard dog were. They were currently hiding in Mokuba's laboratory, Mokuba keeping Jounouchi busy with a task that was obviously intended to keep the blond busy and not sulking. Good. He paged the Head of Security back, informing him that Jounouchi's father was to be put on the list of people not allowed on the premises, due to violent harassment of employees.

A slight knock on the door announced Noa's arrival. "Come in." Seto called.

Noa peered in, looking much like Mokuba did when he knew he had done something wrong. Seto waited as Noa crept in. Noa had every right to be nervous; Seto was the one with the power over any and all of Noa's freedom. ".... Yes, sir?"

"It is Security's job to deal with drunken slovenly louts." Seto said mildly. "It appears to me that you lost your temper and overstepped your boundaries."

Noa twitched. "Yes sir." He mumbled, looking at his feet. He was slightly transparent again, relying on Solid Vision instead of Solid System, most likely because he was expecting not to be solid in the foreseeable future.

"To make up for this, report to Fuguta in Security in the afternoon for the next two weeks. They will drill you on procedures. In return, you will help them where ever you can. Is that a fair trade?"

The green-haired boy looked at him in surprise. The surprise faded slightly as he considered the options. "Yes sir." He finally nodded.

"Good. Go inform Mokuba of the change in plans while I make arrangements." Seto dismissed him. Noa's ability to use Solid System was progressing farther than Seto had anticipated. His ability to be both solid and immaterial at the same time gave him a fine edge in fighting that might be useful to Security, should the building ever be taken over again. Humans had limitations that computers did not, and vice versa.

And if Noa was serious about guarding Mokuba, at least while in the building, that would free up Jounouchi for other things.

"Yes, sir." Noa bowed to him, then began to fade out.

"One last thing." Seto commented as he picked up the phone. Noa's shoulders tensed as he froze in mid-transparency. "Drop the 'sir'. I'm not your father." Seto grumbled. He got enough 'Yes sirs' from the people attempting to kiss ass.

"Right, Seto." Noa smiled back, looking relieved as he faded out completely.

Seto waited until he was sure that Noa was gone completely before hanging up the phone and having himself a good laugh. Somewhere along the line, both Mokuba and Jounouchi had gained their own vengeful guardian angel. Which could be useful in the long run.

But in the short run, he'd have to show Jounouchi a recording of Noa's actions later, just to see the look on the blond's face at their resident ghost protecting Jounouchi's honour.

 

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*achoo!*

Mohawk.

*achoo!*

Dreadlocks.

*achoo!*

Afro.

*achoo!*

Pigtails.

"... I'm terribly sorry about his." Mokuba said, patting his other-brother's back. "But the good news is that it does appear to be a 24-hour bug."

Noa sniffed, looking miserable as the pink ribbons in his hair shimmered cheerfully. They were definitely going to have to look into upgrading the virus checker. "-Thanks."

 

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Seto wondered if he was losing his touch. With Mokuba's help, he had been able to take over Kaiba Corporation in just under a year. And while he was loathed to return to his old tricks of threats, bribes, blackmail and the possibility of murder, it was getting damn tempting.

It was probably because it was so close, he was only a little ways away from holding half of Industrial Illusions stocks. And as he had proven when he was younger, fifty-one percent of a company was as good as the whole company. Unfortunately, it appeared that Tenma had clued in and suddenly there were no stocks to be gained without drawing undo attention to himself.

... Murder, blackmail, bribes and threats were starting to look good. And as a bonus, murder would ensure wiping that smug grin off of Tenma's face once and for all. That would be a pleasant change.

Seto shook his head. He had other projects to focus on. The new Kaiba Lands were doing fairly well, but might need some promotional help later. The Academy was still on schedule, but that could always change at any time. Gas prices for the Airline were enough to make him want to scream. The new VR game was doing well but he should probably talk to Mokuba soon about advancements or additions to it.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. "Oi, Kaiba." Jounouchi's blond head appeared in the door way. "It's late, time to go. Mokuba's already in the limo in the garage waiting for ya."

"Ah. Yes." Seto nodded, automatically picking up the paperwork he was working on and shuffling into piles of what would go home with him tonight and what could stay.

"Hey." He glanced up and was startled to find Jounouchi leaning over him, a worried look on his face. "You keep your face like that and it'll stay that way." The blond reached out, resting a hand on Seto's head, running his thumb across Seto's forehead, smoothing out the wrinkles there.

"Could be worse." He snarked back to cover his surprise, ignoring how his skin seemed to tingle slightly where the blond touched him. Jounouchi's ability to reach out and touch people never ceased to surprise him. "It could freeze like yours."

Jounouchi made a face, messing up Seto's hair before removing his hand. "Jerk." The word was almost affectionate, lacking any true rancour.

Seto gave him a smirk in return, placing his laptop, papers and reading glasses in his briefcase and closing it with a bit of a vindictive snap and rising. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi stepped back a few steps to give Seto room to stand up. "Seriously though, anythin' I can do to help?"

"Your concern is appreciated, but there is nothing you can do at the moment." Seto sighed. This was one thing that kicking people in the head and shouting at them was not going to be any help with. Pity, that.

"Yeah, but..." Jounouchi jogged a few steps to open the door for Seto, then followed afterwards. The doors locked automatically behind them. "You're tryin' ta take over Industrial Illusions, right?"

"How-?" Seto stared at the blond who was moving towards the elevators. It was late, no one else was on the floor, a fact he was privately thankful for.

Jounouchi chuckled. "C'mon, Kaiba. Just cause I look stupid doesn't mean I am. Realised a while back that ya were probably gonna sooner or later, them ownin' the rights to the cards and all. After Mokuba told me about you taking over Kaiba Corporation, I started buyin' shares in Industrial Illusions. I own..." He scratched his head, looking extremely confused for someone who was making an extraordinary amount of sense. "... Well, my goal was about two percent. But it may be more or less than that, what ever interest I get every quarter rolls over to buy more stock in the company and I kinda lost count."

Seto stared at him. "You..."

"Bodyguards get paid a couple hundred thousand yen a day. And since room, food, clothing and travel expenses are all taken care of, don't got much to spend it on." The blond grinned, looking slightly embarrassed. "All my old debts are paid off, so I asked Noa ta help me invest earlier this year, since he was trained for that sorta stuff. Y'know, for the future and all. Just in case."

"... So you became a shareholder in Industrial Illusions." Seto repeated, the implications starting to sink in.

"Yup." Jounouchi agreed, stepping just inside the elevator.

Seto followed him, stopping in the doorway. "Would you sell those shares to me?" He demanded. Two percent, give or take, would be enough to make him the majority stock holder.

"Nope." Jounouchi said easily, meeting his gaze with a mischievous gleam in his eye that was familiar in a duelling arena when the blond had a trick up his sleeve. "But I'll trade ya them for an equal percentage in Kaiba Corporation."

Industrial Illusions may have owned the rights to the cards, but Kaiba Corporation was bigger and had a larger variety of interests. A percentage of stocks in Kaiba Corporation was worth a hell of a lot more money than the same percentage in Industrial Illusions, Jounouchi stood to make quite a bit of profit from the exchange.

-It was nice to know that the blond's time at Kaiba Corporation hadn't been wasted.

Seto could probably talk the price down, or even persuade Jounouchi to give him the stocks for free. On the other hand, it would be an unexpected change to have a Kaiba Corporation shareholder that he trusted to guard his back and actually understood what he and Mokuba were trying to accomplish.

Two percent could make all the difference, after all.

"Deal." He said bluntly. Jounouchi's face lit up with a huge grin as he held his hand out. Seto shook it without hesitation. He had to draw up the papers and have Jounouchi sign them, have the arrangement processed and then...

And then Industrial Illusions was his.

"Katsuya, I could kiss you." Seto announced fervently. He did so, then turned and marched back to his office his mind buzzing with possibilities and plans for Kaiba Corporation once the card rights were in his control.

 

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Can't think. Can't move. Can't think. Can't move. Can't think. The world is sinking. Can't move. Can't think. Can't move. Can't think. Can't move. Can't...

"Jounouchi?" He was startled out of his thoughts by Mokuba's worried voice. He looked up from where he'd curled up a corner of the elevator after Kaiba had kissed him.

Kissed -him-.

Can't move. Can't think. Can't move. Can't think...

He could smell gasoline, exhaust fumes and the burnt rubber smell that accompanied the underground garage. So the sinking feeling had been the elevator coming down to the basement levels instead of his stomach falling out.

"Hey, Mokuba." He gave the teenager a smile that felt weak, even to him. "What's up?"

Mokuba crouched down in front of him, resting a hand Jounouchi's forehead, putting his other hand on his own forehead, checking for temperature. "No fever..."

"I'm fine." He waved it off, dislodging Mokuba's hand with a jerk.

He got a suspicious look in return. "You're curled up in a ball in the corner of the elevator." Mokuba pointed out all too reasonably. "That's NOT fine."

"... It's not life threatening?" He tried instead. At least not until Ol' Blue Eyes figured out that he'd just kissed The Mutt, in which case his life was over as he knew it. He rested his head on his knees again. At least Kaiba seemed to have been running on automatic pilot, maybe he wouldn't remember at all and they could skip the whole 'disgusted' phase. The elevators doors shut, blocking out the scents of the garage.

"Jounouchi?" Mokuba tried again, resting a hand on Jounouchi's arm. Jounouchi flinched at the contact and Mokuba pulled his hand away with a despondent sound. Too much, too much, too much...

"Sorry." Jounouchi whispered, feeling bad. It had taken ages for Mokuba to feel comfortable enough to reach out and offer physical contact without being given it first. And here he was, refusing it. "Your brother is fine, he's just a little caught up in paperwork at the moment. He'll prolly be down in a little while."

Hopefully enough time for him to pull himself back together again. And regain the ability to walk again, cause if he tried now there'd be problems. Embarrassing problems.

"I'm not worried about 'Niisama at the moment." Mokuba said, his voice taking on a stern edge. "I'm currently worried about you. What Did My Brother Do?"

"What makes you think-"

"Jounouchi!" Mokuba snapped and damn if he didn't sound like a pissed off Kaiba.

Jounouchi beat his head against his arms a few times, not willing to look up to beat it against the harder surface of the wall. "He kissed me, okay? It's nothing, don't worry about it."

It wasn't even a very good kiss at that. On a scale of one to ten it was barely a three, just because their teeth didn't clack together. Just a quick press of lips before Kaiba had walked off. But it was enough to remind him that Kaiba smelled -fucking- good and his dick had tried to do the thinking from there. Which was why he was currently not moving and trying will his little problem away.

Mokuba made a surprised noise. "He did?"

"Yes."

"'Niisama kissed you?!"

"Yes." They'd already established this fact, thank you. Could they move on from it? He'd really rather not think about it at the moment. Unsexy thoughts. He needed to find some unsexy thoughts. Ghost Kotsuzuka in a string bikini. Esper Roba in a tutu. The Meikyu Brothers in hot pants.

"You don't find 'Niisama attractive?" Mokuba asked, sounding perplexed.

A laugh bubbled up in Jounouchi's throat, harsh and grating. "That's -not- a problem, Mokuba." Quite the opposite. He'd like to find out what the back of Kaiba's knee tasted like, lick the curve at the small of his back and nibble on Kaiba's long neck like it was it was a favourite chew toy.

"Then what is?" Jounouchi lifted up his face to find Mokuba sitting on the ground in front of him, a confused expression on his face. "If you like 'Niisama... and Niisama likes you, then what's the problem?"

"Because he CAN'T!" Jounouchi growled out.

Mokuba just looked perplexed. "Why not?"

Jounouchi resisted the urge to beat his head against the wall. "Because he's Kaiba. Frikkin'. Seto."

This just seemed to confused the younger Kaiba more. "So?"

"So there are precisely three things everyone knows that matter to him." Jounouchi closed his eyes, resting his the back of his head on the wall. "You. His Blue Eyes White Dragons. And Kaiba Corporation."

"Jounouchi, make -sense-." Mokuba growled.

"I -am-." He snapped back. "What do you think would happen if he... I..." He ran a hand down his face. "The Guy thing. The Freak Factor thing. The Boss thing. Any of it. All of it. It's a BAD idea, Mokuba."

"You're still not making sense!" Mokuba threw his hands in the air. "And you are not a freak!"

"Yes, I am." Jounouchi gave Mokuba a level glare. "What do you think would happen if people found out your brother was fucking a genetic reject? And a guy, ta boot? How many do you would continue to buy from him? To do business with the company?"

Mokuba's eyes went round, like he was trying to process an equation that shouldn't make any sense but was starting to.

Jounouchi sighed. Ah, to be young and innocent again. "Look. My job is to protect you and your brother. That means from me too. You wanted us to be friends and we are. Just... don't ask more than that, okay?" He closed his eyes. "... He smells afraid if I get too close, anyway..."

He was used to it by now, but it still stung. Kaiba didn't seem to mind his presence as long as he didn't touch or get too close. The posture and the voice wouldn't change, Kaiba's eyes remained the same and he wouldn't flinch away, but there'd still be the fear-stink. It was like getting conflicting signals. And while body language could be faked, scent couldn't.

He felt a hand on his arm and this time he didn't flinch it away. "Jounouchi?" Mokuba questioned, as though he had something he was slowly sounding out. "Go sleep at Yuugi's tonight."

He could feel Mokuba using his arm as a prop to stand up. The sound of an elevator button being pushed followed, then the elevator started to rise.

"Mokuba?" He lifted his head enough to look at his young charge.

"I'm gonna go talk to 'Niisama." Mokuba sounded determined. "It might be easier for you to take one of the motorcycles, that way you can come back without calling one of the drivers."

Jounouchi blinked, feeling the world shift on it's axis for the second time in as many minutes in a way that had nothing to do with the elevator. The motorcycles made sense, Kaiba had some stashed both here and at the house, a just in case for high speed pursuits or escapes. Personally, Jounouchi thought it said a lot about the Kaiba's world when this was something that had to be considered.

"But..."

"No." Mokuba's face was set into a fierce expression. "I know about your promise to 'Niisama and he's not going to be alone, Noa and I will be here. But tonight you need some time away from 'Niisama."

"But-"

Mokuba patted him on the head, ruffling his hair like he usually did to Mokuba. "I'll see you in the morning, Jounouchi. Tell Yuugi I said hello."

He watched Mokuba step out of the elevator, torn between conflicting urges. The door sliding shut again. He wanted to follow Mokuba, watch over the kid like he usually did. He wanted to punch out Kaiba's lights. He wanted to finish what that kiss started. He wanted to stay hidden in the elevator and pretend it never happened.

He obeyed his orders instead. Mokuba was right about one thing, he was -not- up to dealing with Kaiba tonight. Especially not while sharing a room, much less a bed. He stood up with a grimace, hitting the button for the garage floor, silently grateful that he still had clothes stashed at Yuugi's place. He'd need a shower after this. Preferably a cold one.

As the elevator sank again he mused that Yuugi or either of Kaiba brothers would probably call this a strategic retreat to regroup and marshal forces, but it sure felt like running away to him.

 

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Really, he could just kill 'Niisama sometimes. It was about time 'Niisama finally figured things out, but honestly, did he have to do -everything- in the most dramatic fashion possible?

... Maybe it had been a mistake to dress him in those flared jackets... but 'Niisama did seem to like them so much.

"Security didn't see anything." Noa commented, partially materialising next to him. Noa had been the one to let him know that Jounouchi was in the elevator after they had started to wonder about what was taking the bodyguard and 'Niisama so long. "The cameras are inside the elevator, they couldn't see the doorway. Even if one of the guys was watching that monitor at that moment, they would not have seen Seto kissing Jounouchi-kun."

"They didn't ask why he was curled in the corner?" Mokuba frowned.

"Jounouchi-kun tends to be rather eccentric, they usually leave him alone." Noa shrugged. Mokuba sighed, that did tend to work in their favour the majority of the time. But still, it would have been nice to know that the blond had back up should he ever need it. They should have -called- at the very least.

Really, he was just going to kill 'Niisama one of these days.

"Noa, I hate to ask-"

"It's okay, Ototo." Noa smiled, anticipating his need for privacy with his older brother. "I'll watch the door and make sure no one interrupts."

"Thanks." Mokuba smiled back, taking Noa's hand and giving it a squeeze. "Wish me luck."

"Don't kill him." Noa offered instead, squeezing his hand back before releasing it.

"Right." Mokuba growled, mentally bracing himself as he opened the door.

'Niisama was sitting at his desk, glasses perched on the end of his nose, the only illumination in the room being the light from the computer screen as he feverishly typed. Mokuba waited for the door to close before reaching over and turning on the lights, flooding the room. 'Niisama didn't even flinch, just continued typing away.

Great. Mokuba tugged on a loose strand of hair, glaring at his brother. 'Niisama was -such- an idiot.

"Hey, 'Niisama." He finally commented, walking over to the desk. He got a grunt in return, 'Niisama absorbed in his task. Mokuba hopped up on the desk, his feet swinging slightly as he stared at his brother. An earthquake could happen right now and 'Niisama probably wouldn't notice. Of course, the Kaiba Corporation headquarters was one of the most earthquake safe buildings in Domino, much less the entire country. Unless it was a fairly big earthquake, they probably wouldn't feel anything, thanks to the shock absorbers in the basement... but he was getting side-tracked. "Something happen?"

"Industrial Illusions." 'Niisama commented distractedly. "Katsuya owns approximately two percent of their shares and has agreed to trade them for an equal percentage of Kaiba Corporation stock."

"Ah." Mokuba nodded wisely. "So is that why you kissed Jounouchi?"

"I haven't kissed Jounouchi." 'Niisama replied.

Mokuba added a silent 'yet' to the end of the sentence. "Yes, you did." He said mildly, swinging his legs again.

"No I haven't."

"Yes." Mokuba nodded. "In the elevator."

'Niisama tore his gaze from the computer screen to give him an annoyed look. "No, I... I..." He trailed off, eyebrows coming down in confusion. "I... oh, shit..." The last part was said very quietly.

"Language." Mokuba rebuked, trying to look as bored as possible and pretended not to see 'Niisama reach up to brush a finger across his lips. The gesture turned to one of annoyance, 'Niisama raking a hand through the fringe of hair that covered his forehead.

"How badly did I fuck things up?" He asked, voice deceptively calm.

"Language." Mokuba repeated. "And he was still in the shock stage when I found him in the elevator. I sent him to spend the night at Yuugi's."

"I imagine that will delay him attempting to rip my head from my shoulders until tomorrow, at least." 'Niisama said with mild self-deprecating humour.

"Funny." Mokuba kicked the desk in annoyance because he wouldn't allow himself to lift his hands from the desk because he'd throttle his brother if he did. "The impression I got from Jounouchi was that he was expecting you to kill him, not the other way around."

"That makes absolutely no sense." 'Niisama stated. But then not much about the blond made sense to 'Niisama. Or to Mokuba either. But Jounouchi was loyal and a good friend, so they tended to over look that part. "I was the one to kiss him."

"Yes." Mokuba agreed. "But then he also commented that you having a relationship with a genetic reject would injure the company."

It had hurt to hear Jounouchi say that about himself. To realise that Jounouchi was pretending that everything was okay, hiding everything behind smiles and that laid back attitude of his, when everything -wasn't- okay. It had hurt to realise that Mokuba had forgotten that this wasn't normal, Jounouchi wasn't normal, would never be normal again and it was Mokuba's fault.

"... He's an idiot." 'Niisama said softly. There was a criticising look on his face and Mokuba wasn't sure who it was meant for, 'Niisama or Jounouchi.

"He thinks you're afraid of him." Lots of people were afraid of 'Niisama. Afraid of Jounouchi? Not so many.

'Niisama scoffed in response. "Hardly."

Mokuba hadn't seen any signs of 'Niisama being afraid of Jounouchi either. In fact, Jounouchi was the only other person 'Niisama let close to him. Although 'Niisama was finally starting relax and accept Yuugi's company now too.

"Do you like him?" Mokuba asked bluntly. 'Niisama tended to put everything above himself, Mokuba and the company, and ignore what was going on in his own head, viewing his own desires as useless or unnecessary. Unless he was duelling, which was another story all together.

-there were reasons why Mokuba tended to stay with his Capmon game. Less 'Fate of the World' in the balance.

"He's a good friend." 'Niisama hedged. A minor victory, 'Niisama admitting that anyone was a friend. But not enough.

Mokuba caught 'Niisama's gaze. "Do You Like Him?" He repeated slowly, leaving no room for his brother to wiggle out of this time. They stared at each other, a silent clash of wills. 'Niisama was the first to tear his gaze away.

"I admit he's not unattractive." 'Niisama said uncomfortably.

"Even now?" Mokuba pressed. "With the ears and the tail?"

"Yes." 'Niisama shot him a dark look for forcing the issue.

"Good." Mokuba nodded. "But you're not gonna get anywhere if you don't tell him that."

"Mokuba!" 'Niisama hissed at him in annoyance.

Mokuba shrugged back. "What?" He strove to look as innocent as possible, a look that was becoming less convincing lately. Probably too much use of it when he was younger, people had gained a resistance. "He doesn't think you're unattractive either. You like him, he likes you, -What's The Problem-?!" Honestly, adults were so -weird-. Maybe their brains fried after their second decade.

'Niisama floundered for a second before growling wordlessly at him. Mokuba grumbled back, then stuck his tongue out. "Don't tell me you're gonna get all weird about the gay thing." It would be just like 'Niisama too, to get all embarrassed about admitted he liked another guy. Like it would change Mokuba's opinion about 'Niisama or something. Sheesh. "Jounouchi seemed all hung up on that too, which is weird cause he's bi. And quite honestly I don't care if you're gay, or bi or screwing Kuriboh as long as it makes you happy. Well, maybe not the screwing Kuriboh."

"I am -not- screwing Kuriboh." 'Niisama ground out between clenched teeth.

"Good." He hadn't thought 'Niisama was screwing Kuriboh, but a little bit of reassurance every once and a while didn't hurt. Although, now that he thought about it, how would one screw a Kuriboh anyway? They didn't have mouths, much less any other kind of orifice. And they were Solid Vision too, you couldn't touch them... Although considering his own relationship with Noa, he really couldn't talk...

"... Jounouchi's bi?"

"Yeah. Or something like that. He checks out both guys and girls." Jounouchi was still around ninety percent human, so that didn't make it bestiality, did it? He was just... what was the term... furry. Anthropomorphic or something.

'Niisama looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know this?"

"I found out when he wouldn't share his porn collection with me." Mokuba informed him loftily. "Said I had to wait until I was legal." He was still rather annoyed about that. Although if 'Niisama was just now finding out about Jounouchi's porn collection, it meant the blond had kept his word about not telling 'Niisama about catching Mokuba watching gay duel monsters porn, so that was good.

"...Oh." 'Niisama took a moment to process this. "Remind me to give him a bonus later."

Why did Jounouchi get bonuses for ruining Mokuba's fun? Really, it wasn't fair. Jounouchi wouldn't even let him watch the really scary horror movies. "Back to the original topic..." He glared at 'Niisama. "You're gonna have to make the first move, talk to him."

"Haven't I already made the first move?" 'Niisama asked bitterly, looking displeased with himself. He hated things that were beyond his control. Even worse when it was something he had done. "After all, I was the one to kiss him."

"I don't think Jounouchi's gonna bring it up again unless you do first." Mokuba confided. Jounouchi probably wouldn't bring it up again upon pain of death. Mokuba hesitated slightly. "'Niisama... what do you -want-?"

"'What do I want'?" 'Niisama echoed. "You have been hanging around Jounouchi too much, Mokuba."

Mokuba wasn't supposed to understand the comment, but he did. Jounouchi was the only other person Mokuba knew of who had ever asked what 'Niisama wanted.

"He's smarter than he looks." Mokuba smirked back. He slid off the desk, moving between 'Niisama and the desk, cradling his brother's face with his hands as he did so. 'Niisama looked at him placidly, not shying from the contact, like he would have a few years ago. "He promised not to leave you alone, 'Niisama. But it's up to you and him what that means."

His brother swallowed, eyes closing as he took a deep breath. Mokuba leaned forward, resting his forehead on his brother's. "Dragons are powerful creatures, 'Niisama. They have tough hides, claws and fangs, which make them very good at protecting and destroying things."

'Niisama let out a soft exhalation at that almost a chuckle, but didn't move his head.

"But it's those same things that make it hard to let anyone close." Mokuba continued. "Keeping that promise is a two-way street, 'Niisama. You have to trust him not to leave you. And he has to trust you that you won't abuse that, because keeping his promise makes him really vulnerable to you."

"I know." 'Niisama said, his voice low and harsh. It would be all too easy to 'Niiisama to hurt Jounouchi, mentally, emotionally or physically without realising it. And Jounouchi was both stupid and honourable enough to stay, simply because he'd given his word. Mokuba was silently grateful to hear that 'Niisama recognised that too.

'Niisama was brilliant, but didn't always understand people. He understood human nature and the masses fairly well, but knowing people as individuals was harder. To have friends was to let people close to you, and letting people close to you meant that they could see your weakness, which meant you could be hurt.

But if it was anything Mokuba had learned from Yuugi, is that often times friends made up for those weaknesses with their own strength. And then your strength made up for their weaknesses, like pieces in a puzzle, leaving both sides stronger than before.

Or at the very least, not alone. And there was a massive comfort in that.

"I think..." Mokuba ventured. "You need to figure out what you want from this. And then find out if what you want and what Jounouchi wants is the same thing."

"And if it's not?" 'Niisama asked. Mokuba didn't have to look to feel the tension in 'Niisama at the thought.

"You'll figure something out." Mokuba grinned, lifting his head and releasing 'Niisama. "Or you'll find a compromise. He's already your friend and he's not going anywhere. That's -something- at least."

'Niisama took a deep breath and let it out before opening his eyes. "You've really been hanging out with Jounouchi too much." He commented, reaching up and patting Mokuba's head, smoothing the hair down like he did when they were younger. "You never used to be this tactile."

"You never used to accept it." Mokuba smiled fondly back. Jounouchi had been good for 'Niisama, even if neither of them realised it.

"Hm." 'Niisama snorted, but it wasn't an expression of disgust.

"Jounouchi is at Yuugi's house tonight." Mokuba reminded him. "You'll see him tomorrow. I'm going call security and ask one of them to escort Noa and me home." Mostly for 'Niisama's peace of mind, not because Mokuba couldn't take care of himself.

"I'll follow shortly." 'Niisama promised. "There's some paperwork I'd like to finish." And some things to think about.

"I'll see you at the mansion." Mokuba nodded, slipping off the desk. He hesitated a moment, then gave his brother a hug. It was awkward because 'Niisama was sitting down, but he managed. 'Niisama hesitated for a moment, then hugged him back. Jounouchi had been -very- good for 'Niisama. Before he moved in, 'Niisama would have accepted the hug, but wouldn't have returned it. Which was why Mokuba had stopped hugging 'Niisama, saying he was too old for it. Because it had hurt every time 'Niisama had flinched away.

"I'll see you soon." 'Niisama promised, releasing him. Mokuba nodded, taking that as the cue it was to leave. He walked out of the room, listening as 'Niisama shuffled a few papers around and started typing. 'Niisama could write both code and legalise in his sleep, which left his brain free to multitask with other things. Productive and brooding at the same time, that was his brother.

Mokuba opened the door, finding Noa sitting right out side, floating in mid-air. Actually, 'sitting' was a loose term. Noa had found that being solid took a lot of mental energy out of him, since he still wasn't used to all the tactile feedback he got, so he usually left his lower half transparent, focusing more on his face and hands and just lowered or raised himself to what ever height he felt was appropriate. "Hey." Mokuba smiled down at him.

"Hi." Noa smiled back, floating back up to eye level. "How did things go?"

"Better than expected." Mokuba shut the door behind him with a small sigh now that the conversation was over and done with.

"Good." Noa said, draping his arms around Mokuba's neck. He seemed to like travelling like that, now that he had a full run of the building instead of just Mokuba's lab and a few rooms at the house. It had startled a few people when they'd first started wandering around together, Noa looking like a ghostly living cape, but it was becoming an increasingly common sight. Mokuba didn't mind. After several years shoved up in cyberspace, he'd probably want constant reassurance that he wasn't alone either. "I contacted Security already, telling them that Jounouchi-kun was off on an errand tonight and would be unavailable until tomorrow afternoon. There's a guard waiting downstairs to escort us home. You'll need to talk to the driver about returning for Seto however."

"Thanks, 'Niichan." He reached up and squeezed his brother's hand. He could have done all of that himself, but it was reassuring to know that someone had his back. -Quite literally as the case may be. He smiled, slowly walking towards the elevator, Noa's slight weight shifting against him as he did so.

"Hey, Ototo?" Noa asked as the elevator doors opened. Jounouchi was gone, something Mokuba was privately glad for.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Noa asked, looking worried. Noa was still jumpy around 'Niisama, but he liked Jounouchi.

"They should be." Mokuba assured his brother before stepping into the elevator, Noa fading out since there were no projectors in the elevators. Both 'Niisama and Jounouchi were stubborn, so it probably wasn't going to be -easy-, but they'd probably work things out sooner or later. But even if they didn't end up being a romantic couple, he hoped they stayed friends.

And if 'Niisama managed to chase Jounouchi off, he was going to have to kill 'Niisama.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto didn't see Jounouchi until he went to bed the next night. It wasn't because the blond was attempting to avoid him this time, but because it had been a busy day that had Seto out of the office the majority of the time dealing with various headaches that had decided to flare up -that- day. It happened occasionally when one was in charge of a large corporation.

But it also meant that by the time he got home Mokuba had already gone to bed and fallen asleep. Usually if Mokuba was asleep, the blond was also sleeping or playing video games. Tonight, he found Jounouchi sleep in Seto’s bed. The blond was curled under the covers, his mop of hair sticking out of the blankets. One of Jounouchi's ears twitched in his direction as he grabbed his pyjamas and retreated to the bathroom to change.

He changed clothes and brushed his teeth. He paused, looking at his reflection in the mirror for a moment.

Mokuba had asked him he wanted. Jounouchi had told him once that sometimes you just had to tell people what you wanted and see if your wants matched up. But you never knew until you asked.

He left the bathroom, turning off the light as he did so. The room remained dark as he moved towards the bed. Jounouchi didn't move as he did so, but Seto had a feeling that the blond was awake anyway. He climbed into the large bed, sliding under the covers next to Jounouchi. The blankets were cool, Jounouchi hadn't been sprawled all over the blankets like he usually did when he had the bed to himself.

That wasn't an encouraging sign. The blond curled up in bed if he was either cold or wasn't confident about something. But you never knew until you asked, and Seto was asking. "Jounouchi-"

"It's okay." Jounouchi said softly, the blankets rustling slightly as the blond curled in on himself some more. "Nothing happened last night. I didn't tell anyone either, so ya don't have to worry about your reputation."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. Reputation? 'Nothing happened'? How the hell was that 'Okay'!?

"We're friends, Kaiba." Jounouchi continued, his voice flat. "That's more than I ever hoped for."

The little coward. Drawing a line in the sand and stating 'this far and no further'. He was running away. Seto sat up, seething slightly. He reached for the blond, intent on turning Jounouchi around, make him -face- him when the blond spoke up again.

"I don't want to sleep in the computer chair, Kaiba." Jounouchi flinched away from his touch, shying away as if he were expecting to get hit. It was a strange counterbalance to the genuine grit and determination in his voice. "-But I will. If I have to."

But he wouldn't -leave-. That got through the anger seething in Seto's brain. Regardless of what happened, the blond wasn't going to leave.

He closed the distance between them, brushing his lips against Jounouchi's bare shoulder. The skin was warm and salty, with the barest taste of musk. "All right." He agreed before rolling back over to 'his' side of the bed. Jounouchi tensed, obviously attempting to decide if that counted as trying something or not.

After a moment, Jounouchi relaxed slightly, but he did not uncurl from his defensive posture. Seto ignored it, for now, and closed his eyes.

He was a successful businessman. If something didn't work, you made a new plan and went after it.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi had once heard someone comment that sex was overrated by those who didn't get laid regularly and underrated by those who did. He'd chuckled at the comment at the time, but now he was sort of wondering about it.

Jounouchi fought with a Mixed/Gambling Deck. He took his chances and usually his luck pulled through and he won. Sometimes he lost. He accepted those as part of the game and didn't allow the losses to detract from his enjoyment of playing.

Kaiba fought with a Power Deck. Kaiba called it a 'Dragon Deck', because of the Blue Eyes and the various smaller dragons he used, but really it was a Power Deck. Lots of powerful cards that were used to smack the opponent down into submission.

Jounouchi was getting rather tired of being smacked down. Oh, Kaiba was pleasant enough while Mokuba or Noa were around, since anything Noa saw would eventually get back to Mokuba. But when it was just the two of them, it was down right uncomfortable.

Sparring, which had become one of Jounouchi's grudgingly favourite parts of the day, despite the gawd awful time early in the morning, was becoming a miniature hell.

It had been one thing when Jounouchi had been aware that he found Kaiba attractive and Kaiba didn't know it. He could ignore it. But now he knew that Kaiba found him attractive and Kaiba probably had some clue that Jounouchi found him attractive and that changed the dynamics. Sparring wasn't just fighting anymore, they were too -aware- of each other.

Kaiba seemed to realise it too and took advantage of it. Jounouchi was becoming increasingly fond of throws rather than grapples or pins, because grapples and pins made it that much easier to get a grope or two in. It wasn't -hostile- or all that often, but there was a definite -intent- behind it that Jounouchi wasn't sure how to guard himself against without breaking limbs.

The businessman kept his word, the bed was just for sleeping, but the rest of the time... there was this unceasing -pressure- from Kaiba to... bend, to submit, to -something-. Do what ever it was Kaiba wanted him to do. He wasn't entirely sure Kaiba knew what he wanted himself.

It was wearing him down. Not his resolve to protect Mokuba or Kaiba or anything else, but internally. It just... hurt. He -liked- Kaiba, he was trying to do the right thing and it all it seemed to be doing was causing pain. He was going to snap soon, and not in a good way.

Cornered dogs had a tendency to bite, after all. And he was feeling very, very cornered.

He rolled off of Kaiba, sitting in a half crouch and taking a small break. Behind him he could hear Kaiba get up, anger practically rolling off of the Dragon. While Jounouchi's -mind- may have been a mess, there was nothing wrong with his fighting skills. He'd won all of their bouts today, mostly out of sheer desperation to not give Kaiba any openings.

Jounouchi sighed as he ran a hand through the sweat-slicked strands of hair sticking to his face, keeping his back to Kaiba.

"If I..." He paused, trying to gather the logical words. The anger and the frustration from the past several days bubbled up instead, the words coming out in a rage filled torrent. "If I spread my legs for you, let you -fuck- me, would you get rid of me afterwards? After you'd finished with your little conquest?"

He was almost surprised at how bitter he sounded. Almost.

Kaiba was silent, just standing there. He didn't move, but Jounouchi could feel the weight of Kaiba's gaze on his back. And while Jounouchi had gotten fairly good at reading Ol' Blue Eyes silences, he couldn't get anything from this one. Just... silence.

Hope, small and brittle, crumbled as the silence dragged on. Silence given as assent.

He was surprised by a towel landing on his head. "Go take a shower." Kaiba said, walking out of the room. Jounouchi looked up in time to see Kaiba's retreating back, his posture straight and unyielding.

Well -that- sure as hell was a helpful answer. Jounouchi pulled the towel off his head and stalked off back to his room to take a shower. Not because he was following bastard-Kaiba's orders but because he was sticky from sweat and didn't want to inflict that kind of wet dog stink on Mokuba.

He locked his bedroom door, not because it would actually stop anyone in the house, but it would delay them long enough for him to notice so he could kick their butts, and took a quick shower. The hardest part of getting clean wasn't so much the shower itself, but brushing out all of his hair afterwards without tearing his ears out. Brushing the tail out was a pain too, the shorter hairs were more prone to get tied into knots than the longer hair on his head due to it always being covered in the fabric.

Jounouchi got dressed, pulling on the clothing like it was armour. In a way, it was. After the sparring match the morning after he'd, well, turned Ol' Blue Eyes down, he had figured out that sparring without shirts wasn't the brightest of ideas. So now he didn't wander around half dressed anymore, which was really annoying. A pounding on the door and Mokuba shouting that they were going to be late alerted him that it was time to stop hiding in his room like a coward and face the day. His stomach growled, reminding him to pick up breakfast after he'd dropped Mokuba off.

This sucked.

He unlocked the bedroom door and poked his head in Mokuba's room. Neither Mokuba or Noa were inside, so he headed for the stairs. Mokuba's voice echoed from the main door.

"Coming!" He shouted back, trotting slightly to catch up. He passed Kaiba just as he was turning to go down the stairs. The Dragon caught his hand, just below the wrist as he walked passed. Jounouchi froze, tensing as he anticipated Kaiba's next move.

"If all I wanted was sex, it could easily obtained elsewhere with a minimum of fuss." Kaiba said softly, facing the other direction. The businessman looked as guilty as he got. "You're not a conquest."

It was not an apology. The start of one, perhaps. But not an apology.

"Good." Jounouchi snapped as he tugged his arm free. He turned and stalked down the stairs. "Remember that."

Kaiba was silent as Jounouchi left, ushering Mokuba out of the house and into the limo. Mokuba didn't speak until they reached the car. "Everything okay, Jounouchi?" He asked, looking concerned. While Mokuba did have a vested interest in his older brother and Jounouchi's relationship, he did honestly care about both of them.

Jounouchi sighed, resting the back of his head against the leather of the limo's seats. "Eventually, Mokuba." He assured the younger Kaiba. "Eventually."

He hoped, anyway.

+++  
+++

 

Yuugi watched Kaiba as they flew towards the remote island that housed the Duelling Academy. The brunette had been brooding darkly the entire trip, saying nothing. And while it wasn't unusual for Kaiba to brood, this time Yuugi had a pretty good idea what the brooding was about.

"Do I need to get a shovel?" Yuugi asked over the noise of the helicopter blades.

Kaiba startled, broken out of what ever his thoughts were. "What?"

"I asked if I needed to get a shovel." Yuugi repeated, fighting the urge to grin diabolically. He didn't get to very often, but he also didn't want to spook Kaiba.

Several thoughts flickered through Kaiba's brain before he recognised the comment. Kaiba may have been hard for other people to read, but Yuugi found it was all in the eyes. Kaiba's eyes rarely lied about what he was actually feeling.

"Possibly." Kaiba admitted, facing out the window and there by missing Yuugi's stunned expression. "I would have thought Jounouchi would have told you."

"Contrary to popular belief, Jounouchi-kun doesn't tell me everything." Although, in this one instance, Yuugi wished he would. He'd been terrified when Jounouchi had showed up at his house and asked if he could spend then night, looking slightly haunted. The fact that Jounouchi had refused to talk about what ever it was still worried him. Although by the way he'd... not quite flinch whenever Kaiba's name was mentioned, it hadn't been hard to narrow down the reasons.

"Hm." Kaiba continued to stare out the window, although Yuugi could see his face in the reflection.

"He also hasn't been by the Game Shop since then." Yuugi added softly. That got a reaction, Kaiba's eyes widened. Kaiba knew as well as he did that the Kame Game Shop was Jounouchi's second home. Always had been, always would be, as long as Yuugi was there.

"I... had a lapse in judgement." Kaiba finally ground out. "And then compounded that error with an even more foolish decision. Jounouchi is not talking to me either."

"Have you tried apologising?" Yuugi questioned.

Kaiba flinched slightly. "Not... as such."

Yuugi thought about it for a moment, then reached out and rested his hand on Kaiba's arm. Kaiba startled, but did not pull away from the contact. "Jounouchi-kun can hold his grudges for a long time." Yuugi said gently, patting Kaiba reassuringly before removing his hand. "But when he forgives, he forgives completely."

Kaiba stared at his arm for a moment, then looked up at Yuugi. Yuugi smiled back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

Finally Kaiba turned and looked back out the window again. "We should be there shortly."

"Aa." Yuugi agreed, falling silent again as he let his hand drop. At least now Kaiba didn't seem to be brooding quite as much. But Yuugi still had a bunch of unanswered questions. He sighed, looking out his own window. All he could really do was trust his friends.

True to Kaiba's word, within minutes the helicopter was circling a volcanic island, giving both Yuugi and Kaiba a good look at the place before touching down.

"What do you think?" Kaiba shouted as they exited the helicopter. Kaiba was bent almost in double to make sure he avoided the blades. Yuugi was crouched as well, not so much out of fear that his head would be taken off, he was short enough to not have to worry about that, but to avoid getting an unexpected haircut.

His hair was ridiculous enough without the top part being a buzz cut. But his hair was naturally like that, there was nothing he could do about it.

He stopped next to Kaiba, looking up at the main entrance to the Duel Academia. "I think I like it." Yuugi grinned. He could just feel the possibilities coming from it. Students, people coming here to learn... it was amazing.

Kaiba smirked. "Wait until you see the insides."

"And the graffiti Jounouchi left?" Yuugi couldn't resist adding. Mokuba had gleefully told him that story shortly after it happened.

"Yes, and the graffiti that Jounouchi left." Kaiba grumbled, walking proudly into the Academia. Yuugi laughed as he trotted to keep up.

The Academy was huge, painted in grey and bright primary colours. Kaiba blandly explained the levels, Obelisk Blue, Ra Gold and Osiris Red. If he was expecting Yuugi to protest Osiris being the lowest level, Kaiba was sorely disappointed.

Good things came from underdogs.

Yuugi was however, confused by the fact it looked like parts of the Academy were currently undergoing a re-paint. The red was being darkened while the gold was being lightened. The blue was remaining the same colour.

When he asked, a haunted look flickered across Kaiba's face as the tall brunette made a comment about grayscale and colour-blindness. Yuugi decided it was probably a subject he was better off not pursuing.

He met Kagemaru, the Superintendent, who was in charge of keeping the Sacred Beast cards hidden in the Academia. He seemed like a nice guy, but also felt kind of... off to Yuugi, but so did most of the teachers at the Academia. None of them seemed to be the caring teacher sort. Kaiba had shrugged when Yuugi had questioned him about it, pointing out that one gained power and strength through adversity, not coddling.

Yuugi thought that said a lot about Kaiba.

The tour took several hours, Kaiba seeing to various small details as they toured, ensuring the Academia was ready for students. Yuugi relaxed as they walked around, liking the place, and liked the feeling of possibilities for the future. Good things were going to happen here. Kaiba smiled when he said as much, a look of muted triumph and pride.

Although he did have to question placing an Academy on an active volcano, regardless of the fact that it was the place where the Scared Beast cards were found or not.

They left the same way they had come, via the helicopter. Yuugi looked down at the buildings as they lifted off, silently wishing them the best. Kaiba grunted, looking forward, as he always did.

"You don't have a shovel, do you?" Kaiba finally inquired once the island disappeared into the distance.

Yuugi thought about it for a moment. "No." He admitted. Kaiba smirked in triumph. Yuugi grinned back. "... But I have a frying pan."

 

+++  
+++

 

"What we need..." Mokuba said as monsters were horribly mutilated on the screen by a spell cast by Mokuba's character. "Is Robot Ninja Monkeys."

Jounouchi paused, glancing at the serious expression of the dark haired boy as the victory music played. Noa looked puzzled as well. "... Robot. Ninja. Monkeys." Jounouchi repeated.

"Yup." Mokuba nodded.

"... Like Honda?" Jounouchi echoed, taking his turn at the controls. A monster on screen swiped at him and he lost points.

"Honda is a Robot Ninja Monkey?" Mokuba obviously found this hard to believe.

"He was in the Virtual World."

Noa flinched. "Sorry."

"Relax, Noa. That wasn't a insult." Jounouchi shot the green haired boy a quick smile before he attacked the monster with his swordsman. "Just a comment. Personally, I thought it suited him."

He got a half-smile from Noa. Poor guy was still tied up in knots from their meeting in the Virtual World.

"Not like that." Mokuba dismissed the idea as the monster screamed on screen and finally died. "A kick-ass Robot Ninja Monkey. One that can actually kick butt. An Army of them."

"An Army of Robot Ninja Monkeys." Jounouchi repeated as Noa picked up his controller and took his own turn at the monsters. And people thought working for the Kaiba was boring.

"Yup." Mokuba leaned back, a thoughtful look on his face. "It wouldn't be hard, we have the technology to make the bodies now, it'd just be programming them to be Ninja Monkeys."

"And take over the world with them?" Jounouchi grinned.

Mokuba contemplated the idea. "No. The programming would take a while, first they'd be Robot Ninja Monkey Canon Fodder, overrunning the enemy through sheer numbers. In a couple of years though, once programming and memory hardware improves, then they'd be an Invincible Army of Robot Ninja Monkeys."

"Why not Robot Pirate Monkeys?" Jounouchi questioned as the monster screamed and died on the screen. "Or Robot Pirate Ninja Monkeys?"

"Your turn, Ototo." Noa reminded Mokuba, setting down his controller again. He was getting better at holding stuff, but he still had a habit of randomly dropping things if he held on to them too long.

Mokuba gave Jounouchi a dirty look. "Pirates suck."

"They do not."

"Do too."

"Do not." Jounouchi stuck his tongue out.

Mokuba stuck his tongue out as well. "Do too."

Jounouchi tackled Mokuba and the two of the wrestled around for a bit. Noa floated over them, taking over Mokuba's controller and moved the characters along in the game. Jounouchi finally sat on Mokuba. "Pirates do not suck." He said triumphantly.

Mokuba grumbled, his face in the carpet. He turned his head to the side and spat. "Fine. Pirates don't suck."

"Thank you." Jounouchi let him up.

"Robot Pirate Ninja Monkeys Suck!" Mokuba cheered.

Jounouchi went to tackle him again and Noa shoved his controller in front of his face. "Your turn."

"What happened to my turn?" Mokuba demanded. Noa smiled angelically. Mokuba sat down and sulked slightly as Jounouchi took his turn, attacking the new monsters.

"Okay, no Robot Pirate Ninja Monkeys." Jounouchi commented. "But what about -Flying- Robot Ninja Monkeys?"

"-Flying-?" Mokuba echoed as Jounouchi quickly finished his turn. Noa picked up his controller and started his turn. Jounouchi glanced over to find a maniacal grin working it's way across Mokuba's face. "Yeah! Flying Ninja Robot Monkeys!!!! With... with like ROCKET JETS coming out of their ASS!!! FWOOOSH!!!"

"-Eh?" They looked up to find Kaiba standing in the door way, with a wonderfully confused look on his face. His reading glasses had fallen to the ends of his nose again, a mug of tea in one hand and a sheaf of papers in the other. "What are you talking about?"

"Security upgrades for the house." Mokuba said, grey eyes wide in innocent techie glee.

One of Kaiba's eyebrow disappeared into his hair. "... I'll be in the study if you need me." Ol' Blue Eyes decided, making a not-so hasty retreat.

Jounouchi looked at Mokuba. Mokuba looked at Jounouchi and shrugged. Sometimes it was impossible to figure out what was going on in Kaiba's brain. "Your turn." Noa announced.

"So." Mokuba picked up his controller. "What about bat wings? Can double as like a shield and a cutting edge too."

"Bat wings are good."

"Yeah."

+++  
+++

 

Yuugi looked at the boy. The boy was a bit on the short side, same age as Mokuba with medium length spiky black hair and dark eyes. He had a habitual baseball cap on it with a logo that was familiar, but Yuugi couldn't quite place.

The boy shifted nervously under Yuugi's scrutiny. "Can I help you?" The boy finally muttered.

"Is your name Satoshi-kun?" Yuugi finally inquired.

"Yeah."

He wasn't a bad kid, Yuugi decided. Bit of a temper and a definite competitive streak, probably somewhat of a loner as well. But not a bad kid. "Do you get into fights with a Mokuba-kun?"

"Kaiba?" Satoshi stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around sulkily. "Yeah. So?"

"Do you want to play with Mokuba-kun?" Yuugi asked seriously. "Or just his toys?"

The dark haired boy gave him a look like he was insane. "Are you nuts? Yeah, sure Kaiba's got all this cool gear, but he's like this 'kid genius' and won't play Duel Monsters with anyone." He snorted. "As if he's afraid of beating everyone."

"So you want to Duel him." Yuugi nodded, smiling inwardly.

"Hell yeah." Satoshi grinned and Yuugi could see the glow in his eyes. It was the same look Jounouchi got when he was about to face someone stronger than him, like he couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

He paused, looking at the boy's clothing again, finally remembering where he had seen the logo on the boy's clothing. Duel Monsters was not the boy's first gaming love. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small egg shaped container and holding it out. "Here."

"What's this?" Satoshi took it, examining it closely.

"Middle ground." Yuugi smiled. "Ask Mokuba-kun about it." With a friendly wave, he trotted back over to where Jounouchi was leaning against the wall, looking bored as he waited for Mokuba to get out of detention for fighting. Again.

"Yo." Jounouchi waved. "What was that about?"

"I think I might have solved the fighting thing." Yuugi smiled at him. "But now there might be a rivalry thing." Satoshi seemed like the kind who thrived on having a rival to push his limits. It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for Mokuba either. The younger Kaiba hadn't been going out to play with kids his own age as much since Noa's rebirth.

"Oh?" Jounouchi smirked, reaching out and ruffling Yuugi's hair. Yuugi grinned back, leaning against the sun warmed wall next to Jounouchi. "And people say -I'm- the over protective one."

"Hardly." Yuugi said dryly as Jounouchi wrapped an arm around Yuugi's shoulders, pulling him slightly closer. Jounouchi chuckled in response, closing his eyes and tilting his head towards the sun. Jounouchi looked tired lately. It worried Yuugi, since Jounouchi wasn't talking about it.

Every time he'd asked, Jounouchi had gotten a bit of a hunted look and changed the subject. Yuugi had stopped asked since. When, or if, Jounouchi needed him, he trusted Jounouchi to say something.

"So what'd ya do?" Jounouchi questioned, a corner of his mouth tilting up in amusement.

"Suggested a compromise." Yuugi rested his head against Jounouchi's arm. "It's up to Satoshi-kun and Mokuba-kun to do something about it, of course."

"Of course." Jounouchi agreed easily. There was a limit to their older-brother like meddling, after all. But Yuugi thought this would work out.

Mokuba was the CapMon Champion after all.

And Capsule Monsters was very much like a cross between Duel Monsters and Pocket Monsters.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Noa, stop slipping your food on to Mokuba's plate." Jounouchi scolded. "He -can't- eat it."

Both teenagers looked contrite. For a moment anyway, then they both started giggling again. Kaiba not-quite rolled his eyes. He'd finally agreed to let Noa join them at the dinner table, once Mokuba had explained that he'd figured out Virtual Food. Noa couldn't actually taste or smell the food, they hadn't figured that out yet, but it was a step closer to dealing with people on a people level and not a Virtual level.

But this meant that any foods Noa didn't like the texture of, he attempted to slide on to Mokuba's plate, where it looked just like the rest of Mokuba's food. Except that when Mokuba tried to take a bite of it, he'd end up biting his fork with no food on it, the 'food' disappearing as soon as it was in Mokuba's mouth, since the Solid Vision and Solid System projectors couldn't project -in- something.

Mokuba had attempted it the other way around once or twice, only to discover that wet food made the Solid Vision flicker. Both boys thought it was horribly funny. Kaiba was still twitching about Noa invading yet another aspect of his daily life.

Jounouchi thought it made dinner conversation more lively. Noa and Mokuba could carry the conversation between them if they wanted, which they often did, meaning Jounouchi didn't have to think of anything to say. Which was good, because Kaiba was often not exactly the world's greatest conversationalist.

"So, anyway." Jounouchi sighed. He'd been hedging around this question all day and this was probably the best opportunity he was going to get to ask. There were witnesses, for one thing. While he and Kaiba were getting back to polite speaking terms, he was still a little wary about the businessman. "Was wonderin' if I could get this weekend off. Or just Saturday night if there's something going on."

Kaiba looked slightly astonished, as did Mokuba. Jounouchi wasn't entirely surprised by their shock, it was the first time he'd -asked- for a night off since he'd started working for them. But he was also giving them most of a week's advance warning. "I know of nothing of any importance scheduled for next weekend." Kaiba said thoughtfully.

"Except Movie Night on Friday." Mokuba pointed out. "The rest of the weekend is free."

Which meant that he'd usually be tripping off with Mokuba where ever the teenager wanted to go. Without Jounouchi around, it meant that Mokuba was either stuck in the house or had a bunch of guards following him around, which sucked all the fun out of going out.

"Is there a specific reason?" Kaiba asked curiously.

"Yes."

Three pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. He stared blandly back, stubbornly shovelling some food into his mouth.

Mokuba broke the silent stand off. "Isn't this about the same time of year that Yuugi's Other Self left?" He mused, glancing at Noa for verification. Noa tilted his head to the side, consulting his endless memory bank.

"This weekend, actually." Noa verified.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at Jounouchi. Jounouchi shrugged back. He was caught. "I don't like Yuugi bein' alone on these anniversaries." Jounouchi said simply. He didn't think Yuugi would -do- anything stupid, but it was still a comfort to have friends around when remembering those who had left. And the Pharaoh had been Jounouchi's friend too.

"He can stay here the weekend." Kaiba offered. Mokuba and Noa nodded in agreement.

"Ya sure?" Jounouchi questioned. Usually if there was a free weekend, Kaiba preferred to wallow in the isolation and lack of idiots wanting his attention.

Kaiba shrugged. "If nothing else, it will lend itself to a quiet weekend." He said with understated dry humour. Mokuba shot his brother a horrified look, but Jounouchi chuckled.

"I'll ask him." Jounouchi nodded.

"If he doesn't agree, you may have the weekend off." Kaiba delegated. "Or Mokuba may wish to join you at the Game Shop for part of the weekend."

Mokuba nodded, a stubborn look in his eyes as if daring him to refuse his company as well. Jounouchi grinned and nodded his acceptance. Kaiba silently waved it off, obviously considering the matter closed.

"Thanks." Jounouchi said anyway, returning his attention back to his food.

"And Noa, I saw that. Get your peas off of Mokuba's plate."

"Awww...."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Mmmm..." Yuugi leaned back, using Jounouchi as a backrest. Not that his best friend was arguing, Jounouchi was sticking closer than usual to Yuugi tonight. For Yuugi's comfort or his own, he wasn't sure. "I'm stuffed."

"Not me!" Jounouchi chortled, reaching over and grabbing another handful of fries. They had hamburgers for dinner tonight, while lounging like complete slobs in the entertainment room. Mokuba pounced, fighting him for the deep fried potato chunks. The two squabbled over the food for a moment as Yuugi scrambled out of their way. Noa floated above them and laughed.

"Thanks for having me over." Yuugi smiled at Kaiba, who was watching the proceedings with an amused look on his face, but refrained joining in.

"It is not a problem." Kaiba shrugged it off. Jounouchi won the wrestling match, shoving the fries in his mouth with a great amount of smug enthusiasm.

"C'mon, Noa." Mokuba stood up and brushed himself off. "I just remembered something I have to do. See ya in a minute!" He cheered, dashing out of the room, the floating ghost on his heels.

"What's that about?" Jounouchi questioned.

"I haven't a clue." Kaiba shrugged. "I think it has something to do with being sixteen."

"Possibly." Yuugi agreed with a chuckle. It seemed strange, like they were never that young.

"Eh, he's being a kid." Jounouchi waved it off, straightening the remains of the hamburger boxes and bags. "Don't- EEP!"

The blond started doing some sort of wild armed flail that might have been dance-like if it wasn't for the expression of alarm on his face. "Get-it-off! Getteroff!getteroff!"

"Jounouchi?" Kaiba questioned, sitting up and moving towards the blond.

"HA!" Jounouchi peeled off his shirt, tossing it in the middle of the floor like it had personally attacked him. "THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE!" He declared, pointing at the shirt accusingly.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Yuugi was about to comment when he felt something moving in his left trouser leg. "EEP!" He squeaked, straightening. He tried shaking his leg to break what ever it was out of his pants leg, but it kept crawling up his leg. "It's in my pants!"

"I got it!" Jounouchi declared. "Street Punk Manoeuvre #23! Fleece no Jitsu!"

Yuugi suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground, minus pants. He hadn't even unbuckled the belts. Plural. "Jounouchi-kun?" He questioned, looking at the blond sitting next to him.

"Sometimes the fastest way to separate a man from his wallet is ta separate him from his pants first." Jounouchi proudly shook out Yuugi's leather trousers. "Learned all sorts of weird things runnin' on the streets."

Kaiba looked amused as he stared at Yuugi. Or more appropriately, Yuugi's underpants. "How do you wear boxers under your leathe-EEP!"

The billionaire straightened, eyes going wide in shock as he reached for his shirt. Ha. Turnabout was fair play. "My turn." Yuugi laughed, stumbling over Jounouchi and grabbing Kaiba's shirt in an attempt to pull it off. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work due to the fact that Kaiba's buckles actually worked, holding his clothing on and Yuugi somehow ended up with his head up Kaiba's shirt when Jounouchi tried to get Yuugi's foot off his hand.

-Which is when Mokuba and Noa opened up the entertainment room's doors.

Yuugi, Jounouchi and Kaiba looked up.

Shizuka, Mai, Anzu, Bakura, Malik, Isis, Rishid, Otogi and Honda stared back.

Yuugi freed his head from Kaiba's shirt. "This isn't what it looks like."

It wasn't. Really.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiight." Mokuba nodded. "We're gonna close the doors now."

Which he and Noa did.

Kaiba closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache.

Jounouchi pounced on something, and then held up a wiggling sock with triumphant glee. "I caught it!"

 

+++  
+++

 

It was either a large scarab, or a big dung beetle. Technically, there wasn't much of a difference. All dung beetles were in the scarab family, but not all scarabs were dung beetles.

Either way it was a mystery how it got there. Especially ahead of the Egyptian travellers.

Once their shock had worn off and the fact that they had company sunk in, there had been a frantic dash to hide Jounouchi's.... abnormalities. And in Yuugi's case, to get his trousers back on. Jounouchi usually didn't bother hiding his ears or tail while hanging out with the Kaiba brothers or Yuugi, so he didn't have one of his long sleeve shirts to camouflage his tail nor anything to hide his ears with him.

They'd quickly substituted a pair of Kaiba's reading glasses for sunglasses to hide the ears and borrowed one of Mokuba's shirts that had worked it's way into the couch cushions before letting anyone back into the room, the three of them slightly red-faced and mussed from their scramble. Which earned all three of them some rather interesting looks from their guests.

Mokuba had been completely contrite once he realised what the problem was, he'd forgotten about that when he'd invited everyone over. Malik, Isis, Bakura and Rashid were helping with another Egyptian exhibit, one that had -nothing- to do with Duel Monsters, they'd been quick to assure everyone. Mai was just stopping through Domino and Anzu had sprained her ankle and was using the down time to visit her family.

Otogi, Honda and Shizuka had only been a quick phone call away and more than happy to hang out.

The fact that this all -happened- to be on the Anniversary of Atemu's passing on was a -complete- coincidence, or so everyone assured everyone else.

For an impromptu party, it wasn't so bad if Jounouchi said so himself.

Which he did, as he bounced around and checked on everyone, assisting Mokuba in passing out beverages and snacks. Isis and Kaiba had ensconced themselves in a corner, talking about fate and other mysteries while Yuugi and Anzu curled up on the sofa and chatted bout how life was going. Honda, Otogi, Bakura and Mai were happily discussing their travels and interesting people they'd met. Mokuba had roped Malik and Shizuka into playing video games while Rishid and Noa hung out in the back ground and watched over their charges, making the occasional odd comment.

It took a little while for Jounouchi to relax, he hadn't spent a lot of time with large groups of friends in a while. Part of him wanted to unwind, loosen up a bit and relax his guard. They were his friends, he knew them and been on outrageous adventures. But the rest of him was twitchy about being trapped in a room with that many -people-, regardless of who they were.

Jounouchi finally did mellow out, sitting on the arm of the sofa with Kaiba on one side, Yuugi on the other, Mokuba sitting on the floor in front of him and Shizuka within sight. Various conversations flew across the room as people shouted comments at each other, laughter hovering in the air. Even if he was being a paranoid bastard, it felt good to have everyone together again.

"Hey, Jounouchi." Anzu helpfully reached over Yuugi. "You've got something stuck under your shirt."

PAIN.

White hot pain flooded his mind, blanking everything out except for the need to remove the source of that pain. Which he did, flinging it away as he looked around for any more threats to his person.

"Oh!" Shizuka's cheerful voice penetrated the fog covering his mind. "So -that's- why you don't grab the tail!"

Jounouchi blinked, the growl fading in his throat as he looked around. Anzu was lying in on her back in the middle of the room, the breath obviously knocked out of her. Everyone else was staring at him, their eyes wide in a mixture of surprise, shock and horror. The shirt he'd had around his waist was still in Anzu's hand, ripped off when he'd flipped her away.

Seto's reading glasses fell forward, the ears they'd been holding sliding free from their confining grasp.

.... Shit.

"Anyone who tries ta blame Kaiba hasta go through me first." He snarled, defensively placing himself between Kaiba, Mokuba and the rest of the group. Isis was stuck back in his protective barrier as well, but she held her peace, one hand pressed against her mouth.

Mokuba looked at him with wide guilt laden eyes. "But-"

Jounouchi bopped Mokuba on the head. Mokuba rubbed the offended spot, looking balefully at his brother. "'Niisama!" He wailed.

"He did exactly what he said he was going to do." Kaiba informed him coolly, then reached forward and rapped his knuckles on Jounouchi's head. Not enough to hurt at all, but enough to get a message across. "And don't hit my little brother."

Jounouchi grunted in return, feeling twitchy. Mai helped Anzu off the floor, sitting her back on the sofa. Anzu was rubbing the back of her head, looking slightly dazed.

"Well, I'll be." Otogi grinned at him. "Kaiba does have a trained lap dog."

One of Yuugi's hands on Jounouchi's arm kept him from jumping the dice boy. Honda hit his boyfriend on the back of the head instead. "Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi said, turning Jounouchi's attention towards him and his large innocent looking eyes. "Could you go down stairs and fetch my bag for me? The movies for tonight are in it."

Jounouchi could feel his ears flicker around, torn between -Fetching- and -Protecting-. "I..."

"It's okay." Yuugi assured him. "Please, go and Fetch it." This time there was no mistaking the slight command in Yuugi's voice. Jounouchi glanced at Kaiba, who was back to his impassive business self and Mokuba, who was watching him with a worried face. Kaiba gave him a slight nod and Jounouchi felt some of his defensiveness fade, replaced by the urge to -move-.

A not quite whine came out of the back of his throat as he turned towards the doors. "I'll be right back." He swore darkly.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto swept his gaze over the gathered group of people, assessing everyone's reaction. Noa and Mokuba had automatically flanked him, standing to his right. Yuugi was sitting on his left, he and Jounouchi's sister watching the group with concern. Bakura, Malik, Isis and Anzu merely looked confused, Rashid and Mai were looking around doing assessments of their own. Honda looked irritated, but at his partner, while Otogi seemed to think this was the biggest joke he'd seen in a while.

About what he expected, actually. Save for Honda, Seto had privately expected a screaming fight from him.

"There was an accident while closing down one of Gozaburou's former laboratories." Seto said placidly, drawing the attention away from the blond's departure. "The result is what you see."

"I tripped over a cord." Mokuba corrected, giving Seto an irritated glare for glossing over the details. "Jounouchi pushed us out of the way and got hit by some goop instead. We offered to take care of surgery to make him look normal again... but he didn't want it."

"And the dog collar?" Otogi smirked, as if he knew the answer but wanted to hear it anyway.

"He was given the collar before the accident." Seto dismissed his concern. "It is his choice to continue wearing it." Jounouchi had waved it off the one time Seto had inquired and refused to talk about it further, saying it was a convenient for the communicator.

It -was-, which had been part of the thought when he'd bought it to put on the blond. At the time, it had been meant as a jest, an ill-spirited joke. One he vaguely regretted now.

"Jounouchi's here because he wants to be." Mokuba growled hotly, his hand clenching in fists as he glanced at Otogi. "Not because we -extorted- him into something!"

It was a bit of a low blow, referring to Otogi's past history with Jounouchi. Noa wrapped his arms around Mokuba, lips moving slightly as the green haired hologram whispered words to calm Mokuba's temper. Seto felt a small flicker of irritation at that, but dismissed it for the moment.

"If -anyone- makes any comments about Katsuya being less than human-" Seto glared around, making sure that he made eye contact with each person in the room. "-I guarantee they will -live- to regret it."

Mai tossed a handful of hair over her shoulder. "Don't you mean 'won't' live to regret it?" She inquired. Next to her, Anzu nodded, looking slightly confused and shell-shocked.

"No." Malik said softly but firmly. "He doesn't. There are worst things than death." The rest of the Egyptians nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yes." Yuugi agreed, his voice a dark purr Seto hadn't heard since the passing of Yuugi's Other Self. He was slightly disturbed to realise that the middle of Yuugi's forehead was glowing as shadows gathered in his smaller duellist's hand, forming into the shape of a card. "Much worse things."

Yuugi looked at the card in his hand and let out an amused giggling, slightly higher pitched than normal.

"I'm noticing that you aren't asking for us not to spread this to the press." Otogi drawled, obviously putting some effort into ignoring Yuugi's shadow show. "I'm sure it would be quite devastating to Kaiba Corporation if something like this got out."

"Kaiba-kun shouldn't have to." Jounouchi's sister surprised Seto by speaking up. She looked at the pony-tailed boy with determined brown eyes that sparkled with barely muted anger. "You're his -friends-. What do you think would happen to Katsuya-niichan? Katsuya-niichan is NOT a Laboratory Project or... or... a Research Specimen or some Freak for people to gawk at! Katsyua-niichan is Katsuya-niichan!!!"

Honda's fist met the back of his boyfriend's head again. "Idiot." He said clearly. Someone wasn't going to get lucky tonight, Seto noted absently with a touch of morbid humour.

The door opened and Jounouchi bounded in, tossing the backpack towards the smaller boy. "I got it. Ya can stop talkin' 'bout me behind my back." Jounouchi growled. It could almost been mistaken for irritation if the blond's ears hadn't been pressed back against his skull, the tail tucked against his legs. The blond wasn't annoyed, he was -terrified-.

"Thank you, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi smiled reassuringly at his friend, digging into the bag. "I didn't know that Bakura-kun, Malik-kun, Rishid-san or Isis-san were going to be visiting today, but I brought 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns' to laugh at the historical errors. Anyone else want to mock them?"

"Brendan Fraser!" Shizuka clapped her hands together, sparkling happily as she bounced. "In THOSE leather pants!"

"SHIZUKA~!"

 

+++  
+++

 

"Hey." Yuugi closed the door to the entertainment door behind him.

Jounouchi looked up from his crouched position, his tail thumping against the wall a few times. "Hey."

"Got tired of people?" Yuugi inquired, crouching down next to Jounouchi and setting down the frying pan he'd been carrying on the floor.

"Some thing like that." Jounouchi agreed. Yuugi wrapped an arm around Jounouchi's shoulders and was surprised when the blond tensed, flinching away. "Jounouchi-kun?" He asked quietly, removing his arm.

Jounouchi reached out, grabbing Yuugi's wrist. "It's not you." Jounouchi said softly, pulling Yuugi closer as he shifted his weight so he was leaning against Yuugi. "It's just... I'm not a dog, Yuugi."

"I know." Yuugi agreed mildly. "You are Jounouchi-kun."

The blond made a soft sound, a cross between a chuckle and a snort. Yuugi had gotten so used to Jounouchi being the one who reached out, it was strange seeing him avoiding it. "Sorry. It's just... everyone wanted to touch...."

"And you're not a pet." Yuugi finished for him. Now that he thought about it, he'd seen a few people reach up to touch the blond's flickering ears. Although everyone had judiciously avoided the tail.

"No. I'm not." Jounouchi agreed. He let out a snicker. "And that one time with Professor Yashimori chasing me around the museum was enough of a Mummy movie for me, thanks."

Yuugi chuckled. Jounouchi hated horror and monster movies with a nervous passion. "You okay?" He asked instead.

"No." Jounouchi said bluntly. "But at the same time, I'm kinda relieved. Was gonna end up telling most everyone about the ears and tail anyway, so I guess I just got it all over at once."

"Aa." Yuugi agreed mildly. That was one way to put it. He changed the subject to something a bit brighter. "I saw that you and Honda-kun made up."

"Yeah." He could feel Jounouchi's grin against his shoulder as the blond shifted more weight against him. "He's still annoyed that I'm keeping secrets, but we're buds again."

"I'm glad." Yuugi wrapped an arm around Jounouchi's shoulders for balance. Light, his friend was not.

"Apologised to Anzu for flipping her like that. She said she forgave me, then gave me a speech." Jounouchi continued. "Power of friendship and all that. I think I saw Kaiba snickering in the background durin' that."

Would not have surprised Yuugi the least if that was true. Impassioned pleas of friendship, light and warm fuzzy feelings still more amused than touched the cynical billionaire. "He still doesn't understand, does he?"

"He's gettin' there." Jounouchi's tail thumped a few times in amusement. "Otherwise everyone wouldn't be here tonight."

"You have a point." Yuugi leaned against Jounouchi, shifting some of his own weight against the blond so that they were both propping each other up. If Kaiba didn't want everyone here, they wouldn't be, Mokuba's wrangling or not. Kaiba was very good at making his displeasure known. "How'd the others take it?"

"About what you'd expect. Malik, his sister and Rishid figure it's none of their business. Their whole life is about keep secrets anyway, so it's just another one for them not to talk about." Jounouchi ran down the list. "Bakura seems a little twitchy about it. Haven't talked to Mai yet and Shizuka seems to think it's all very funny."

"And Otogi-kun?"

"Is having great fun playing Devil's Advocate with Kaiba." Jounouchi let out a soft snicker-snort. "He did pull me aside to privately ask if he honestly needed ta kill Kaiba. Then commented that this suited me better than that dog suit of his and went back to teasin' Ol' Blue Eyes."

"Otogi-kun has a death wish sometimes." Yuugi mused.

"Which is why he has Honda to keep him in-line and sane." Jounouchi paused. "Sane-ish. Alive, anyway."

"I thought I was going to have to use the frying pan on him." Yuugi admitted, getting a chuckle out of Jounouchi.

"Naw. But I may hafta borrow it for Mokuba." Jounouchi sighed. "He's doing the whole 'teenage angst' thing at the moment. Speaking if which, he and Noa said you made a card? That scared the crap outta everyone, by the way."

"Really? No one's asked me about it." He reached into the habitual leather pouch on his waist that carried his cards and pulled the first one out. "Here."

"That's cause they're all too scared to." Jounouchi commented as he straightened, taking some of his weight off of Yuugi as he took the card. "We all remember the Shadow Games... The fu-?"

Yuugi grinned at Jounouchi's confused expression. "I was sitting next to Kaiba-kun as he explained what happened in his own succinct fashion."

"Lemme guess, in under three sentences?" Jounouchi's lips were twitching like he wanted to smile but didn't trust himself to do so.

"Something like that." Yuugi agreed. "Then Mokuba-kun and Noa-kun backed him up and..."

Jounouchi let out a bark of laughter, which turned into a rolling chuckle. There was no hysteria or mocking in his voice, Yuugi was relieved to notice. Just a highly amused laugh.

The card was 'Kaibaman', showing what looked like Kaiba Seto wearing a mask styled after a Blue Eyes White Dragon, long chestnut coloured hair falling past his waist. It was a Level 3 Light/Warrior card with a measly 200 attack points and 700 defence points.

But the card's unique special ability was to allow Kaibaman to be sacrificed to bring a Blue Eyes White Dragon from your hand to the field.

Harming Kaiba brought the wrath of his two blue-hued eyed brothers to the felid. And both Mokuba and Noa were growing up to be very formidable people indeed.

"It looks like Kaiba in a chicken suit!" Jounouchi wheezed. Yuugi paused, and then clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the giggle that threatened to escape. It really did.

The door opened again and Kaiba stepped out, closing the door behind him as he looked at them coolly. "Your guests are getting ready to depart." He informed them curtly, obviously having had his fill of company for the night.

Jounouchi did a quick double take between the card in his hand and his employer before breaking out in helpless laughter.

"What?" Kaiba demanded as Yuugi shrugged. Unfortunately, this coincided with Jounouchi suddenly leaning against Yuugi, sending both of them pitching to the side. Yuugi flailed around, attempting to stay upright and grabbed Kaiba's leg in his efforts. Kaiba was not anticipating the sudden impact of weight against him and stumbled, falling to the ground as Yuugi and Jounouchi rolled into him.

Jounouchi paused for a moment, then started laughing again, the Kaibaman card held safely in the air. Kaiba grumbled darkly as he attempted to dislodge them from off of him. Yuugi gave up and started laughing as well, pushing futility at Jounouchi's limbs that pinned him down.

The door opened, Mokuba and Noa staring down at them, the rest of their friends peering from behind. Yuugi waved weakly as Jounouchi’s laughter just increased.

"Oh, honestly." Mokuba's palm quickly met his forehead. "AGAIN?!"

 

+++  
+++

Jounouchi woke up as the door opened, picking up the scent of flowers and other assorted perfumes. He opened his eye and looked balefully at the doorway, where Mai was standing, dressed in a borrowed pale sleeping yukata. She smiled and wiggled her fingers at him, a silent 'Good Morning'.

He wrinkled his nose at her, unwrapping an arm from around Yuugi to motion that he'd there in a minute. He yawned, untangling himself from between Kaiba and Yuugi, shifting Yuugi over to where he'd been resting, the small spiky haired duellist sleepily snuggling towards the warmth Kaiba offered. Mai had her mouth covered with one hand, hiding a giggle as he walked over, idly scratching his belly.

He paused for a moment, his sleep-fuzzed brain slowly waking up. He motioned for Mai to stay where she was, then reached into the stocked liquor cabinet and pulled out the pair of two-way radios held in there. He turned one on and set it down next to the sleeping people's heads before finally wandering out the door.

"Mornin'." He yawned again, turning on the radio he held. The reassuring sound of Noa, Mokuba, Kaiba and Yuugi's breathing echoed forth.

"Good morning." Mai smirked as he scratched behind an ear. "Not that I'm complaining about the view, but do you need to pick up a robe to wear?"

It wasn't exactly warm in the house, but it wasn't terribly cold either. "Nah, I'm good." He waved it off, leading her towards the stairs. "Tail gets all tangled up in the fabric, s'a pain. Take it ya wanna talk?" He'd figured that had been her intention after asking to spend the night here in a guest room when everyone else had been leaving to go back to their own homes and hotels.

"You're as blunt as ever." Mai smiled at him, then hid her own small yawn behind a hand. "Excuse me. Ya got any coffee around here?"

"Kitchen." He nodded. "This way." He led her through the maze of corridors down towards the back of the house, to where the large kitchen was. It had taken a while for everyone to wind down enough to finally fall asleep, and even then almost everyone slept restlessly, waking Jounouchi up several times during the night. But still, he'd slept better with everyone there than if they'd all gone off to separate rooms.

"Mokuba talked Kaiba into getting an espresso machine a while back." He commented as they approached. "I don't know how to work it, but you're welcome to try."

"Nah. Coffee's good enough for me." Mai shook her head. "Thanks though."

"Welcome." He pushed open the kitchen doors, and then automatically set about making the coffee after placing the radio on the counter. He had to stop and remind himself to make double the usual amount. "We have juice too if ya want it."

Mai shook her head, tossing her long golden hair over her shoulder and running a hand through it, trying to untangle some of the morning mess. "Pass." She shot him an amused look. "So. Are we going to do this the civilised way, or are we gonna have to take this into the backyard and have a duel to get it out of your system?"

He thought about it for a moment, and then smiled, shaking his head. When he was younger, it generally took duelling a friend to get him to talk about what ever was bothering him. Now he was mature enough to actually talk about things instead of having it dragged out of him. Mostly. "Maybe later. Kaiba would probably appreciate it if you challenged him to a duel though."

He'd already e-mailed her a while back about the challenge he'd given Kaiba, ten duels with no stakes before he'd duel Kaiba about the championship. She'd commented back that it might be fun to try.

Mai grinned back, reaching over and patting his cheek. "You're growing up. Now, tell Big Sister Mai everything you're not telling everyone else."

"And what makes you think I've got something I haven't told anyone?" He teased, turning on the tap and washing his hands.

"Easy. I -know- you, Jounouchi Katsuya." She smirked back, an expression that would have been called 'evil' by lesser men. "Now spill."

He chuckled, turning the tap off and drying his hands off. Since he was up this early, he might as well be productive about it. "All right, ya got me. Whaddya wanna to know?"

She looked slightly surprised. "You mean there's more than just the doggishness?"

"I'm workin' fer Kaiba." Jounouchi pointed out as he dug around in the pantry for flour and sugar. There were all sorts of bizarre things in jars and bags in there, half of them Jounouchi couldn't figure out even after reading the labels. "There's -always- secrets."

"Point." She thought about it for a moment. "How are you really doing?"

"Physically, Emotionally, Mentally or Spiritually?"

Mai shot him a look like she wanted something to toss at him. "Start with Physically and go from there."

"Physically..." He finally found some containers that labels looked roughly approximate to 'Flour' and 'Fancy Flour' and pulled them out. He walked back to the counter and set them down. "This doesn't go any farther than the two of us, Mai." He growled, mentally pulling himself together for this. He didn't usually talk about what was going on with himself, it was easier just to ignore it and focus on what was going on around him.

She nodded solemnly, apparently following his train of thought.

"Physically, I'm better than I was." He sighed as he pulled a large bowl from the cupboard below. "The human body isn't designed ta spontaneously grow an extra limb, all that tissue and bone had to come from somewhere. It's lucky I'm as young as I am or I probably wouldn't be here." Humans generally had growth spurts up until about age twenty-five, and he was twenty now, his last major growth spurt having been a couple of years prior.

"Some... where...?" Mai echoed, then her eyes went wide. "Oh, dear."

"From the rest of me, yeah." Jounouchi nodded, digging around for measuring cups. "Evidently I was real brittle there for a while, the Docs still have me on vitamin supplements, trying to restore the calcium and nutrients that were stripped from the bones and tissue and stuff."

"Weight loss the hard way." Mai quipped. "Still, ya look good, kid."

"Thanks." He flashed her a smile. "Hearing's improved, scent has improved, sight's gone a little weird. Night vision is excellent, but I lost all my colour."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "Aren't dogs colour blind?"

"Actually, that's an old wives tale." He measured out a cup of flour, levelling the flour out before dumping the flour into the bowl and measuring another cup. "They see in a different spectrum range then humans and can't see orange or green, but they can see colour. Blue was the last colour to cut out. But the Docs think it was 'cause my skull changed some of its shape to accommodate the funky ears."

"So they're not just decoration." She smirked.

The tail wagged a few times. "-Everything- is fully functional." He smirked back. "They're actually more of a pain than you'd think. Common ailments golden retrievers suffer from are hip problems, skin allergies and ear infections." He made a face, his ears twitching. One of the problems with having his ears pinned down most of the day was it encouraged the frequency of the ear infections. He had drops to take care of it, but it was still annoying.

"Hip problems? But you're human."

"Humans aren't designed to have tails anymore." He pointed out, the tail wagging shyly as if it knew that they were talking about it. Damn thing really did have a mind of its own. "Pelvis had to be rewired to account for the tail, which plugs into the spinal cord."

"-Which is why you reacted so strongly when Anzu tugged on it." She nodded sagely.

"Hurt like bloody hell." He muttered darkly, adding some baking soda. Mai walked behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder, then sliding it down his back, her fingers ghosting along his vertebrae. He shivered slightly from the light contact.

"I'm not trying to hurt you." She murmured, misinterpreting his reaction as fingertips touching where the tail joined his lower back. "I'm just checking something." He nodded in return, setting down the cooking ingredients and utensils, gripping the counter top so if he did react, he wouldn't lash out at her.

"The muscles are all bunched up here." Mai commented, her thumb pressing into the flesh at the base of the tail. He flinched at the jolt of pain, a low growl rumbling in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, reminding himself that she wasn't a doctor, she wasn't doing this out of spite or because she thought of him as a freak. She straightened, taking a step back. "I may be able to do something to help with that later."

"Thanks." That would be wonderful, the thing was a pain in the butt sometimes. Quite literally. "Damn thing's grown since I first got it. Kinda like from a floppy puppy's tail into more solid adult dog's tail. It's bigger and not as flexible as it used to be. Same with the ears."

"So... how much of you is dog?" Mai said, never one to avoid the hard questions.

He sighed, giving the mass of dry powder in the bowl a stir. "Enough." Enough to make him not human in any case. "I'm still something like over 90 percent human, give or take. There's really not massive amounts of differences between mammals when you get right down to it. Senses are different like I said, not just the eyesight, but scent's better, hearing's better, things taste slightly different and... well... I'm more tactile now."

"I hadn't noticed." Mai said dryly. "You spent most of the evening draped over various people."

"Um. Yeah." It was kind of hard sometimes to control, or express, the need to touch. Sometimes it was like a bone deep ache, the craving for physical contact. Curling up with Yuugi was good, but movie nights where the best, when everyone slept in a jumble. Everyone was close, bodies and limbs scattered all over each other.

And it was the only time he let himself actually touch Kaiba anymore, not just the friendly pats that slipped through his guard. They may have shared a bed, but they rarely, never, even so much as brushed against each other in their sleep anymore. Yuugi, Mokuba and Noa formed a safe protective buffer with their presence between himself and all the... stuff with Kaiba.

"Anyway." Mai smirked. "Anything else changed?"

"Everything, really. My DNA was re-written." He measured the baking powder, levelling the spoon out as well. "Mmm.... Probably the best way to explain it is to think of it like cancer."

"Cancer?" Mai's voice was sharp.

"Yeah. Cancer's where one cell of the body duplicates incorrectly and then continues to duplicate uncontrollably, right?" He motioned back to his tail as he dumped the powder in with the rest of it. "Pretty much the same thing, complete with strange funny-lookin' growths."

"Doesn't cancer kill?"

"Yup." He agreed easily. "This'll prolly get me in the end, there's no escapin' it. Dogs don't live as long as humans do anyway." Life expectancy was about ten to fifteen years for a golden retriever. And while he -was- still mostly human, it did factor into things.

Mai made a sound, almost like a whimper. Jounouchi blinked, turning towards her. "Mai?"

"I'm..." She shook her head, blond hair covering her face.

"Oh... Oh, Mai." He set the start of the batter aside, reaching out and wrapping his arms around the older duellist. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, no, it's just..." She wrapped her arms around him, her nails cutting into his back. "How long?"

"Years." He assured her. "Years. I probably won't grow to be a really old man, but you won't get rid of me that easily." Kaiba was enough of a cantankerous bastard that Jounouchi wouldn't be surprised if he made to be a centurion, provided no one killed him out of spite in the mean time. Jounouchi, however, probably wouldn't last half of that. Docs had said forties, maybe fifties before everything broke down to the point of no repair.

Course, Jounouchi was enough of a cankerous bastard himself that he'd probably last longer than that. He hated those blasted doctors.

"Sorry." Mai muttered, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's just... I didn't think that..." That something like this could -kill-. It sounded silly after all.

"I know." Maybe he shouldn't have told her after all. "No one does, and I try to keep it that way, 'kay?"

"Act as if everything is peachy keen and it is?" Mai muttered almost darkly. She'd done that enough times in her life. It'd gotten her in trouble as well, kept her from reaching out for her friends.

"Exactly. Especially with these guys. If Kaiba gets upset about something, it affects Mokuba, if Mokuba gets upset-"

"-Daddy Dragon goes hunting for heads." Mai finished.

He nodded, stroking her long hair. She was a jumble of scents, covered with scented lotion, perfumes, and hair products, but underneath it all, she smelled angry. Hurt and angry.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "It's somethin' I've had a lotta time to think about and come ta terms with."

"Can't they do anything about it?" Mai muttered miserably. "Reverse the effects or something?"

"No, Mai. No." He shook his head, tightening the embrace. "You weren't there... you didn't see the other... results. The other animals all horribly warped and twisted. They were trying to create beasts of war, creatures of terror, Gozaburou's vision of the future."

He still dreamt about the other experiments sometimes, their pitiful looks and screams from behind caged walls. "What would you have Kaiba do? Continue the experiments, have countless more animals perverted and tortured for the sake of a possible cure for one person? I can't do that, Mai. Hell, I probably wouldn't even survive a cure if they did find one."

She shuddered against him, tightening her own grip on him. "Sorry."

"It's okay." He rubbed her back. "It was an honest question. I still have nightmares about it, y'know. Not about me gettin' hit with the goop again, but if I hadn't... If it had been Mokuba who had been hit instead. Or Kaiba. Someone could have ended up dead. Or worse. There was some really scary things down there, Mai. Really nasty. I was lucky to end up like I did."

He was the real lucky one after all, he had gotten to leave that place. And he could still blend in with the masses. It could have been so much worse. He could have grown tentacles, scales, wings in inappropriate places or be a horrible misshapen green thing oozing puss from open orifices.

And he wasn't the only one affected by it. They still didn't know what was going on with the silver bit on Kaiba's arm.

Mai nodded, taking a deep breath and straightening up. He loosened his hold, meeting her eyes. "If... when the time comes and you want to get away from everyone... for some peace, just let me know, okay?" Mai said earnestly, patting his cheek again. "I can cash in a few favours, set you up some place. The tropics or something."

"'Old dogs know when to go off to die', huh?" He grinned back, wiping under her eye with his thumb. She wasn't -crying-, but it was only because she was a stubborn broad who refused to let the tears fall. "I'll remember that. Although chances are that I'll just get myself shot or run over by a car in the line of duty."

"You would." She growled, and then ruined the fierce expression by sniffing.

"Bein' a bodyguard isn't exactly the safest job." He pointed out. "Especially to the Kaiba. It's something I thought about before takin' the job. Speaking of which, I have you in charge of my will. The ex... exec..." What was that word again? Not 'executioner'...

"Executor?" Mai looked surprised. "Me? Why?"

"Cause I think you're the one who can handle it the best." He said honestly. "I don't want to do that to Yuugi, not after his Other Self's passing away, and the same for Shizuka. Mokuba's too young and Kaiba is... well, he's younger than Mokuba in a lot of ways, really. And I trust ya to be fair to -everyone-."

One of the reasons he'd chosen Mai over Honda, Mai didn't have a grudge against the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba and Kaiba were already aquatinted with death, first through the death of their parents, then with Gozaburou's death, both of which had left their marks on them. They'd been powerless during the first one, and then had to dealt with the severe backlash of the second. And while he wasn't family, he was aware that he'd gotten closer to them than anyone else in recent history. They probably wouldn't deal with his death easily either.

He kinda hoped that maybe they and Yuugi would be able to... well, maybe not bond, but get each other through it, be there for each other. Get to be friends, like Yuugi always hoped.

He brushed some of the hair out of her face as she considered what he was saying. "It's actually very simple. The assets I do have, stock in Kaiba Corporation and such, gets divided evenly between you, Shizuka and Yuugi. Everything else can be given away or thrown out, except for what ever Mokuba or Kaiba want or what ever people wanna claim."

He tapped the collar with the communicator hanging from it. They'd probably want the Kaiba Corporation toys back.

Mai smirked back. "Your assets?" She repeated, obviously disbelieving.

"About two percent in Kaiba Corporation, once Ol' Blue Eyes finishes signin' the papers." He grinned. "Tradin' him for some other stocks I have. Kaiba Corporation annual turnover is currently about 150 billion yen, the three of you should get a sizeable chunk of change from that."

Not including what he currently had in his bank accounts. It never hurt to have a little extra cash. Who knew? Maybe they could go to the Bahamas and toast him with a piña colada or something. That'd be cool.

"Oh, shit." Her eyes went wide. "You're rich."

Well, maybe not rich, but at least well off. He leered playfully at her, his tail thumping happily at her comment. "I'm not just another cute blond, y'know."

Mai punched him in the arm for that. Ow. He'd forgotten she had a mean hook. He laughed, giving her another hug. "That's m'girl. Hard as nails, tough as diamonds."

"And don't you forget it." She hugged him back, making his spine pop in protest. Out of everyone he knew, he and Mai understood the other the best. You could take the punk off the streets, clean them up, dress them nice, but you could never completely take the streets out of the punk.

"Now." She released him. "I think you said something about coffee."

He glanced over and found that the coffee machine finished its job while they had been talking. "Oh, yup. How do you want yours?"

"I can do it." She waved it off as he reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of half and half. He shrugged and pulled out a couple of eggs and the butter as well. He set it all down on the counter and they poured and fixed the coffee to their liking in companionable silence.

"So." Mai finally said, cradling her coffee cup in her hands like it was the nectar of the gods. "Kaiba."

"Yeah?" He felt his ear twitch in her direction as he took a quick slurp of his own coffee and cut a chunk of butter, sticking it in a bowl and popped it in the microwave to melt.

"He called you 'Katsuya' last night." She said, playfully accusing him.

Jounouchi nodded. "He does that occasionally. Usually in private however." Late at night, when it was just the two of them heading for sleep.

"Ohhhh?" She said inquiringly. He raised an eye brow at her as he cracked one of the eggs into the bowl. Mai grinned at him. He debated a moment, and then sighed. Really, who else was he going to talk to this about? -Besides Noa or Mokuba, but they really weren't an impartial audience. And if he didn't cough up something juicy, she'd probably start to poke at him with those sharp nails of hers.

"Kaiba... kissed me a few weeks ago." He admitted, feeling his face heat up. Mai squeaked, bouncing enthusiastically.

"And?" She demanded, like a gossip monger pouncing on a particularly juicy titbit.

"And... nothing." He tossed the egg shells into the rubbish bin with more force than strictly necessary. "I turned him down."

"You what?!" The bouncing stopped as she started at him incredulously. "Why? You like him, don't you? You've always been chasing each other around and all."

"Yeah." He sighed, cracking the other eggs into the mix and throwing away the shells. "But... He's my employer. And KAIBA. And I'm..." He waved a hand, giving Mai a 'fill in the blank' look.

"Damn pretty?" She came up with instead.

Great. Just make him spell it out. "Male? Street punk? Mediocre? Wouldn't know class if it hit him upside the back of the head? Not human?" He muttered, grabbing the half and half, measuring it out and dumping it into the batter, giving the mixture a harsh stir.

"Jounouchi Katsuya, if I -ever- hear you refer to yourself as 'Mediocre' or 'Not Human' again, I will shove -both- of my spike heeled shoes up your ass." Mai snapped, her own face flushed with anger. "You are NOT-"

"I know, I know." He waved it off. "I'm sorry. It's just... I'm..." He sighed again, at a lost for words.

Mai softened slightly. "Terrified? Scared out of your mind?" He looked at her in surprise, finding her looking into her coffee cup like it was a mirror. "It may sound strange, but I've actually fallen in love a few times myself." She offered, smiling bitter-sweetly. Including with his own sister.

"Yeah." He agreed, deciding to ignore the whole 'falling in love' flowery bit. "I can't... You're the first person I've even mentioned it to, I can't talk to anyone about it. I haven't even talked to Yuugi about it. Yuugi'd be happy, I think, but then there's the tabloids and the press and everything. It's weird enough when they make stuff up, I can laugh it off, but if it was true and dragged through the mud..."

And Kaiba was Kaiba. For all Jounouchi knew, this was all an elaborate ruse to get one over on the Puppy. He didn't think so, he liked to think he knew Kaiba better than that, but it wasn't something he could discount either. They'd hated each other a lot more years than they could tolerate each other. A little genetic mishap wasn't going to change that.

Although he was somewhat relieved that their current awkwardness had been set aside, at least for last night. It’d been like it had been before Seto kissed him, friends again.

Mai reached out, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Sorry." He muttered, leaning towards her. "It's just... confusing and I don't know what to do. Yuugi keeps tellin' me that 'not human' doesn't mean 'less than human', but he also cohabited in his body with a spirit fer a couple of years. Most people don't see the world that way."

Most people would declare him a freak or a monster. Something out of a horror movie and demand that he be locked away or something. "It's okay." Mai assured him. "I'm not going to tell anyone. And if you need to talk about it, I'm here."

"Thanks." He reached up and gave her hand a squeeze. "Sorry to dump this on you." Things had gotten better recently, Kaiba had backed off with his attentions, but it was still tense between them.

"I told you to tell me -everything- you're not telling everyone else." She pointed out dryly as he retrieved the melted butter from the microwave. "So you can't say I didn't ask for it."

"Heh." He grinned, dumping in the butter and mixing the batter up to a proper consistency.

"So." Mai said, straightening her robe as she leaned against the counter again. "I didn't know you could cook."

"Just a bit." Jounouchi ducked his head as he turned on the stove and dug around for a skillet. "I worked part time as a delivery boy for a bakery while I was livin' with Yuugi, cause the early morning hours worked for me. One of the bakers got tired of me tryin' ta swipe treats from him, so he taught me how to make some simple things, help out around the kitchen. I'm not great, but even I can handle making pancakes."

"You do know how to treat a girl right." Mai purred happily.

"Eh, it was a good job." He admitted, putting the skillet on and grabbed a spatula, cutting a sliver of butter off the brick and letting it melt on the pan. "Not many other places would put up with my weird hours and I couldn't exactly say that I couldn't come to work that day cause my best friend was going through melt down cause his Other Half, who happens to be the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, up and left."

Mai let out a soft noise, like a snicker or an aborted snort. Yeah, their life was weird. "So what happened to the job?"

"I left it a few weeks before I got this one." He said, digging around for a ladle. He finally found one and stuck it in the batter. "Yuugi had a nightmare and requested that I quit."

"And you did?" Mai's voice was incredulous. "Just like that?"

"Yup. Day after I left, the place burned down early in the morning. The baker who'd been teaching me was badly burned and one of the other employees died." He pointed his spatula at Mai, whose sceptic look turned into one of mild horror. "Never underestimate anything Yuugi says. He can see stuff we can't."

She nodded, eyes wide. "So I'm beginning to understand."

Jounouchi grinned, pouring batter into circles on the warm skillet. He was about to ask if she wanted him to attempt to spell out her name in pancake batter when they were interrupted by the sound of screaming from the two way radio he had set on the counter. The scream was followed by a second, high pitched scream, then a whole choir of screaming voices.

Kaiba and Yuugi had just woken up to discover that they weren't cuddled up next to their usual snuggle buddy. Namely Jounouchi.

He cackled, picking up the radio. "I'm declaring it a Pyjama Day." He announced, giving Mai a wink. Mai covered her mouth to muffle her giggles as her coffee almost splashed out of the cup she was holding. "Come on down to the kitchen when you're ready, we have pancakes in progress."

"JOUNOUCHI!!!" Several voices roared as he held the radio away from his ear, trying to stifle his own laughter.

"Oh, and Yuugi?" He added, with what he hoped was an angelic grin on his face. "If you could be so kind as to bring your frying pan with you, I need it to cook breakfast."

 

+++  
+++

 

Noa hovered silently over Mokuba's shoulder anxiously. Distantly, Mokuba realised that he should probably reassure his sibling, but he couldn't get the mental focus together enough to do it.

"Hey!" Jounouchi greeted them with a broad grin on his face as they all stumbled into the kitchen. In pyjamas, like Jounouchi had requested. It felt a little strange to not be getting dressed early in the morning, which meant that it was probably even more weird for 'Niisama, whose hair was still sticking up in the back from bed head.

It was funny to realise just how much power Jounouchi really had over them. They did what ever he requested without thinking about it really.

"You ready for pancakes?" Jounouchi continued to grin as Yuugi handed him the frying pan with a small embarrassed blush. Jounouchi messed up Yuugi's hair, then gave him a quick good morning hug, releasing him to stagger off and get coffee. Mai smirked at them, elegantly sipping her own cup of the dark brew.

'Niisama beat Yuugi to the coffee, grunting at the smaller duellist as Yuugi ducked around him to fetch his own coffee. Jounouchi laughed at them as he gave the frying pan a quick scrubbing and set it on the stove before stirring something in a large bowl.

Shizuka came wandering in, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "Morning, Shizuka!" Jounouchi chirped.

"Morning, Oniichan." Shizuka smiled at him, then went to sleepily lean against Mai, her brown eyes still only half lidded. Mai wrapped an arm around the other girl's waist, sending a quick glare around as if daring anyone to protest.

No one did. After all, there was coffee to be drunk before intelligent conversation was possible. Jounouchi chuckled at them, pouring a yellow mixture out of the bowl and into the heated frying pan. "Morning, Mokuba. Morning, Noa." Jounouchi winked at them, flipping some finished pancakes off the skillet and onto a waiting plate.

"Good Morning, Jounouchi-kun." Noa smiled back.

Mokuba gave him a weak smile. "Good Morning, Jounouchi." He handed the blond the radio he had carried down. Jounouchi took it, peering at him in mild concern. Usually Mokuba was the most cheerful person at breakfast, not requiring coffee to fully wake up. "The speaker was on." He commented softly.

It was almost comical, the way Jounouchi's ears went back as his eyes went wide. Almost like they were connected by a string or something. ".... Shit." Jounouchi swore softly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen in-" His apology was cut off as Jounouchi wrapped an arm around him and started pulling him towards the back door.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi handed the befuddled duellist the spatula as they passed. "Take care of the eggs."

"Huh?" Yuugi stared at them in confusion, clutching his coffee in one hand, the spatula in the other.

"I can do it." Shizuka volunteered, leaning slightly away from Mai.

"Naw." Jounouchi waved it off as he pushed open the door. "You an' Mai are guests!"

"I'm not a guest?" Yuugi's confusion echoed as Jounouchi pulled him outside. He could hear 'Niisama's rumbling voice commenting about the possibly of Yuugi paying rent as the door swung shut.

"Sit, sit." Jounouchi ushered him to a nearby bench, arms wrapped around Mokuba's shoulders like he was afraid Mokuba was going to flee at any moment. Mokuba shrugged off Jounouchi's grasp and stepped away.

"I'm not a baby." Mokuba growled, taking a seat on the other side of the bench, as far from the blond as he could get. "You don't have to coddle me."

"I... Sorry." Jounouchi gingerly sat down on the bench, looking like someone had just kicked his dog. "Didn't mean to."

Jounouchi's hands clench and unclench at his sides, like he was trying to restrain himself from reaching out again and Mokuba felt a pang of guilt.

He'd read in psychology class last semester that people who went through some sort of severe trauma often went one of two ways, they either avoided physical contact of any sort or went the opposite way and wanted as much physical contact as they could. 'Niisama went the first way, after Gozaburou's death. The hugs and pats from the orphanage disappeared. It hadn't mean that 'Niisama didn't love him or didn't like spending time with him, but Mokuba had learned to not try to reach out for 'Niisama.

Jounouchi went the other way. Often times without thinking, he was constantly reaching out, especially when nervous or scared. Mokuba wondered if it was a dog thing or just a Jounouchi thing. A way for Jounouchi to remind himself that he wasn't a freak and that there were people who accepted him. The blond wasn't just reaching out to comfort Mokuba, but to reassure himself as well.

Mokuba scooted over, so they weren't so far apart. Jounouchi raised a questioning eyebrow at him and Mokuba smiled sheepishly back. "My bad."

Jounouchi snorted in return, then wrapped an arm around Mokuba's shoulders, dragging him closer so they were leaning against each other. Mokuba ducked his head, feeling the waves of guilt swell up. It wasn't -fair-. Here he had ruined Jounouchi's life, yet Jounouchi was the one trying to cheer -him- up. It should be the other way around.

"Why? Why are you-?" Mokuba whispered as Jounouchi tucked Mokuba's dark head under his chin. Jounouchi should hate him for what he had done, not offer him sympathy. "I -Killed- you!!!"

"Do I look dead to you?" Jounouchi asked, sounding amused. "Hell, do I SOUND dead ta ya?"

"No, but... " Mokuba ducked his head, allowing his long hair to hide his face. He wasn't going to cry, a Kaiba didn't cry, he just didn't want anyone to see his expression. "You're gonna die and it's my fault."

"No, it's not." Jounouchi wrapped both arms around Mokuba, holding him tight. His head was pressed against Jounouchi's ribcage and he could hear the 'thub-thub' of the blond's heartbeat. "It's not your fault."

"It-"

"It isn't." Jounouchi repeated calmly. "And I'll tell you however many times it takes fer ya ta get it through yer thick Kaiba skull. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault."

"But-"

"No."

"Yes." Mokuba insisted. It was.

"No."

"Shut UP!" Mokuba snapped, one hand pushing against Jounouchi's chest, the fingers curling into a fist. "It IS. It's my fault and my responsibility to fix it and make things better!!!" He couldn't just -let- Jounouchi die.

Jounouchi gave him a squeeze. "How?"

"I don't know. I'll figure it out somehow." He'd gotten Noa back. He'd figure this one out too.

"Mokuba..." Jounouchi sighed, resting his head on Mokuba's again. "There's nothing -to- fix. What's done is done, this is how it is. Sometimes you just have to accept what has happened and move on."

"I don't -want- to accept it." He realised he was whinging and bit his lower lip. He wanted to make things better. Jounouchi didn't say anything, just held on, his face pressed against Mokuba's hair.

"I'm not going to tell you that I'm okay." Jounouchi finally said softly. "There are days when every thing's a huge pain. And there are days when it hurts. But I'm still happier this way than if it had been you that was hit instead."

"You mean me and 'Niisama." Mokuba corrected automatically.

Jounouchi didn't answer, going abnormally still around Mokuba.

"... Jounouchi?" Mokuba echoed, feeling a spike of panic. He looked up to catch the blond's expression, the worry increasing at the apologetic look on his bodyguard's face.

Jounouchi had said that he wasn't the only one affected by the mutagen... Mokuba had thought he meant figuratively, since Jounouchi's mutations had affected his, 'Niisama and Yuugi's lives. But 'Niisama hadn't removed those bracers from his arms for a while now. Jounouchi had assured him it wasn't for the same reason as Yuugi didn't take off his wrist bands, but he wouldn't tell him why either.

"'Niisama." Mokuba put it together. "'Niisama's arm." Jounouchi winced, the small motion letting Mokuba know that he was on the right track.

"I think it happened when he caught me." Jounouchi mumbled, his voice low. "I don't know, he won't talk to me about it either."

”Maybe that’s my test.” Mokuba muttered. Fix ‘Niisama.

”Test?” Jounouchi echoed warily.

”I’m the same age ‘Niisama was when he took over Kaiba Corporation.” Mokuba ground out. “Gozaburou gave him two percent of the company with the task to increase that by 100 percent when he was fifteen. ‘Niisama exceeded that by taking over Kaiba Corporation on his sixteenth birthday.” Mokuba frowned. “I’m sixteen now, he should have tested me by now, but there’s been nothing.”

”… And you’ve been waiting for him to do so.”

”Yes.”

 

”’Tested you’?” Jounouchi inquired, sounding confused.

”

can tell you that even with all the inconveniences, I'm happy where I am right now.

Œ

He realised that Jounouchi was probably keeping track of changes in Mokuba's scent and muscle tension, his own private lie detectors.

-And people thought the blond was dumb.

 

 

 

Mokuba sat down next to Jounouchi, leaning against the blond. Jounouchi gave him a questioning look, raising one eyebrow. Mokuba smiled sheepishly back. Jounouchi smiled, wrapped and arm around Mokuba's shoulders. Mokuba let out a small 'eep', then laughed as he suddenly found himself Jounouchi's teddy bear, half in Jounouchi's lap.

From here, Jounouchi could probably also keep track of muscle tension and changes in scent. His own private lie detectors.

... okay, maybe Jounouchi was a little bit tricker than he let on.

"Right." Jounouchi says as Mokuba tucked his head under Jounouchi's chin. He's getting too big for this, he's going to squash Jounouchi in a few years. "Now

"I didn't mean to listen in." Mokuba leaned against Jounouchi anyway, tucking his head under Jounouchi's chin.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Ohhhhhhh...." Jounouchi let out a sigh of completely orgasmic bliss as he trembled slightly. "Nggh... Oh yeah, riiiiiight there... -Harder-... Oooooohhhh..."

"Dammit, where's my video recorder?" Mokuba demanded, the music from game he was playing with Yuugi suddenly cutting out as the game was put on pause. "If this isn't blackmail material, I don't know what is. Noa, can you at least record any audio?"

"Sorry." Noa apologised from over by Mokuba. He didn't sound overly sorry, however.

Jounouchi briefly debated flipping Mokuba the bird, but that meant moving his arms that his head was resting on. Mai shifted above him, hitting another sensitive spot and ooooh, that was good. That was all sorts of kinds of greatness. "Nghhhhhh..." Mai chuckled wickedly in return. Evil -evil- woman. "Marry me?" He groaned.

"'Niichan!" Shizuka scolded from her spot on the couch. She sounded more amused than stricken however.

"It's all right, I get that a lot." Mai was entirely too pleased with herself. "A good massage will open more doors than sex will."

"I'll believe that." Jounouchi gasped as something slid into place with an audible pop. There was a brief spike of pain-pleasure before the muscles relaxed. "Ugghhh..." Yuugi laughed softly in the background.

"Can you teach me?" Shizuka asked. "It looks interesting."

"Oh, yeah." Mai agreed tiredly, running her hands across Jounouchi's back, feeling for more muscle tension. "I'll need one after this if you don't mind practising on me." Somehow Mai managed to turn it into a lewd suggestion, but at the moment Jounouchi was beyond caring, he was just a happy lump of melted ooze. Even his -tail- felt good.

"Sign me up too." He muttered. "Right after this nap..."

"Nap good." Mai agreed, patting him on the back, then rolled off of his legs, tugging his sleep pants up so they weren't dipping down so indecently. "Oh, my legs are asleep. Someone give me a hand..."

He heard Yuugi's soft steps as the spiky haired duellist walked over and helped Mai stand up. There was a soft thump from the couch and Shizuka's soft laugh. He drifted off as Mai started to instruct Shizuka on giving her a leg massage, getting the blood back into her legs after kneeling over Jounouchi so long. He almost felt bad about it, but he couldn't find it in himself at the moment to do something about it.

When he rose to consciousness again, he found Yuugi stretched out next to him, looking like a melted kitten as Noa and Mokuba worked on Yuugi's back, laughing quietly as they did so. Yuugi was making similarly embarrassing sounds to the ones he had made. Mai gave the duo occasional instructions as she carded her fingers through Shizuka's hair. Shizuka was draped across Mai's lap, a peaceful expression on her face as she watched them.

"I see Sleeping Beauty is awake." Mai smirked.

He grunted intelligently as he stretched, feeling slightly sore and vaguely buzzed. He rolled his shoulders, then twisted from side to side, feeling things popping back into place. "Ooh... yeah." He rolled his head around, his neck making crackling sounds as he did so. "Owe you big time, Mai."

"Just put it on my tab." Mai airily waved it off with a grin. He grinned back, climbing to his feet and doing a few basic stretches, luxuriating in the feel of muscles and tendons moving freely without pain. They didn't keep track of how many times they owed each other. After a while, it just all evened out.

"Teach me how ta do that?" He requested, stretching his arms out. "Anythin' that feels that good hasta be shared."

Mai chuckled softly. "I'm afraid we're all out of practise partners." She apologised, leaning her head against the couch soft back. She looked relaxed, almost to the point of sleepy.

"We've all taken turns being practise dummies. Yuugi's the last one." Mokuba explained. "You've been out of it for a while."

"I think you needed it." Noa nodded in agreement, looking both amused and pleased. Jounouchi felt somewhat abashed for drifting off like that, usually he was much more aware, even while sleeping. Noa smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry. We would have woken you up if something came up."

"Thanks." He smiled back, rubbing the back of his head. Some bodyguard he was. But still, the nap and the massage had felt damn good, so he couldn't feel too bad about it.

"He can practise on me." Kaiba's quiet voice startled everyone, even making Yuugi jump slightly. The businessman had settled himself off in a corner when they'd first come in from duelling after breakfast, silently reading a book. Jounouchi hadn't heard him make a sound after that, except for the occasional rustle of a page. Apparently everyone had forgotten his presence, which knowing Ol' Blue Eyes, was what he had intended.

Mai was the first one to recover. "It's easier with your shirt off." She commented, striving for and not quite getting nonchalant.

"That's fine." Kaiba removed the robe he'd been wearing over his pyjamas. That was draped over a chair, then he unbuttoned the pyjama top, folding that over the robe. He still had his black arm bracers on, looking strangely incongruent with the rumbled pyjama pants. "Is there anywhere in particular I should lie down?"

Mokuba was watching his brother with obvious surprise in his eyes, but pointed next to Yuugi, where Jounouchi had been laying down. "There works. Need a pillow?"

"I'll be fine." Kaiba said calmly, walking over and laying on his belly on the soft carpet, resting his head on his folded arms. Jounouchi glanced over at Mai. Mai looked back and shrugged, spreading one hand wide to signal her lack of understanding. No help from that quarter then.

But then that was usually how it was with Ol' Blue Eyes. If he wasn't being absolutely hair-ripping infuriating by being a stubborn bastard, he was doing something unpredictable to knock you off balance.

Jounouchi shrugged back, then knelt down next to Kaiba. Mokuba gave him a small smile and nodded, silently offering cautious encouragement. Jounouchi gave him a small smile back, took a small meditative breath and reached out, running his fingers down Kaiba's bare back. Kaiba shivered slightly, muscles tensing and relaxing under his tentative touch. It was almost funny; despite his cool act, Kaiba was probably as nervous as Jounouchi was.

Kaiba's back was broad, small dips and valleys formed by well formed muscle all across it. But to Jounouchi's surprise, the skin wasn't as smooth as it looked up on first glance, it was almost completely covered by criss-crossing long thin scars. They weren't that visible unless he actively sought them out and looked for them, but they were definitely there. No wonder he had missed it when they'd sparred shirtless in Vegas.

But it sort of explained why Ol' Blue Eyes didn't like going around without being covered up. Probably didn't want the questions, the possible revulsion or the pity. He noticed Mokuba watching him with concern and smiled at him, hoping to reassure the younger Kaiba. He wasn't going to freak out at this little unravelling of the tangled mystery that was Kaiba Seto. So Kaiba wasn't perfect. Big deal, he already knew that.

"So, Mai." He grinned, relaxing slightly as he realised that he had all this lovely bare skin there to explore and complete permission to touch. "What's the best way to start a massage?"

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto shivered slightly as Jounouchi's warm fingers trailed along his back, tracing a scar by touch more than sight. It was late, the two of them were on the bed comparing scars.

Kujaku and Jounouchi's sister had finally left, Mokuba and Noa were asleep and Yuugi was happily ensconced in Jounouchi's room instead of a spare room. He wasn't sure if Yuugi had previously been aware of the standard sleeping arrangements or not, but the spiky haired duellist hadn't so much as raised an eyebrow when everyone had gone their usual rooms.

"That looks like that had been a nasty one." Jounouchi commented. They both carried their scars like badges of honour, proof that they had survived, each one had a story. Stories had gone from the fairly mundane, scars left from learning how to ride bikes or skateboards, to the sort of things that people didn't talk about. They had both been through what would have shattered other people and come out stronger for it.

"I pissed off Daimon by being correct." Seto smirked. He'd hurt for ages, but along with every stab of pain had been the smug knowledge that he'd been -right- and gotten one up on the bastards. "He broke a riding crop on my back for that."

"Thought those things were designed to make a loud noise-?" Jounouchi asked, removing his hand. Seto caught himself leaning towards the blond, following the contact, and stopped himself.

"The leather loop on the end, yes." He agreed. "But the stick is flexible enough to act like a whipping stick. Unless the repeated impact is too great."

Jounouchi nodded. "No offence, but your old butler disturbed the crap outta me."

"None taken. Daimon was a carry over from when Gozaburou was still alive. Most of my... 'education' was left in his hands." Daimon had not only been Gozaburou's butler, he'd also been a master in many forms of torture, both psychological and physical. It was an occupancy Daimon had enjoyed all too much. "I shed no tears when he left."

"When did he leave anyway?" Jounouchi tilted his head. "I remember seein' him before and durin' Death-T, but not after."

"He lost at his own game and suffered the consequences." Not that Seto had cared at the time. Nor did he now. Although dying because a baby pooped on your lap was a rather unusual way to go.

"Seriously?" The blond scratched his head. "That electric chair thingie? He lost?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "You were there when it happened."

Jounouchi puzzled it out for a moment, before his eyes widened. "That's right, I passed out." He laughed, embarrassed, even as his tail thumped against the bed. "I'm not real good with those kinds of things..."

Hence Jounouchi's insistence against seeing horror movies. Although, the irony was a bit much.

Seto leaned forward, his finger just brushing a long thin scar that graced Jounouchi's throat, barely visible above the leather collar. "What about that one?"

"Ah, that one." Jounouchi traced the scar with his own fingers, a wicked grin twisting across his face at the memory. "That was thanks to some moron who thought I was as pretty as a whore and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Heard it took three months before he was released from the hospital."

The look on Jounouchi's face was a mixture of pride and fond remembrance, like it was an old joke whose punch line had yet to lose its humour.

Seto swallowed, mentally stepping back and looking at Jounouchi in the dim light. 'Pretty as a whore' indeed. Exotic blond hair, fine features when they weren't screwed up in a comedic face, a toned athletic body, he must have been seen as a pretty prize by some.

Seto felt a sour taste in his mouth as he realised that his behaviour several weeks ago had been exactly that, no different than the person who had left the scar on Jounouchi's throat.

That he'd acted like a base lower street punk was a horrifying thought. It was an equally puzzling one to realise that Jounouchi -hadn't- lashed out and put him in the hospital as well.

Was it because Seto was his employer? His... friend, like the blond insisted? Something else?

"I never did apologise to you." Seto said quietly. "For behaving the way I did."

The look Jounouchi gave him was a slightly wary one, mixed with surprise. He was silent for a long moment.

"I'm not going to say it's okay." Jounouchi finally said, his voice harsh and laden with muted steel. "Because it -wasn't-. And it hasn't been forgotten either."

Once burned, twice shy, as the saying went. The blond had physically flinched the first several times Seto had tried to touch him. Jounouchi still twitched sometimes, or shied away. Jounouchi fidgeted while riding in the elevators now, always ready to move or defend at half-second's notice, if need be. He didn't relax in Seto's company the way he used to. Even now, he was ready to run or fight at any wrong or sudden movement Seto made.

No, Jounouchi hadn't forgotten, he never did. It was something Seto was slowly realising, that while Jounouchi may forgive, and forgive wholeheartedly when he did, he never completely forgot anyone or anything that hurt either himself or his friends.

"-If it'd been anyone else, they would have been in the hospital for more than a measly three months." Jounouchi said quietly, with a dark firm confidence.

"I know." Seto agreed. He thought about it for a moment, and then decided to ask the question on his mind. "Why didn't you?"

Jounouchi was silent. Too silent, for too long. "Thanks for not pressin' me about signin' that contract." He said, changing the subject instead of answering.

"It's... nothing." Seto waved it off. There was no time limit, although he would prefer to take over Industrial Illusions sooner rather than later. And it seemed foolish to press the blond for what had triggered the entire... incident.

Although, in retrospect, he wished he could remember more about that kiss.

"Mm." Jounouchi acknowledged his comment. "Still, I'm surprised you haven't done anything with it. It's been signed and in your briefcase for weeks now."

Seto blinked.

And blinked again.

"G'night!" Jounouchi grinned toothily at him as he quickly dove for the covers, scrabbling to crawl under them. Seto stared at the slightly snickering lump in the bed. Part of him wanted to get up and start work immediately, now that he knew he had everything in his grasp. Part of him wanted to smack Jounouchi with a pillow. The logical part of him recommended following the blond's lead, go to bed deal with this oversight in the morning.

So Seto, being the logical person he was, climbed under the covers on his side of the bed, turned off the light and jabbed the snickering Jounouchi with a pointed elbow as he settled down to sleep.

"Good -night-, Katsuya." He muttered darkly, promises of strangulation floating through his brain.

Jounouchi snickered in response.

 

+++  
+++

 

'Niisama's secretary was named Ryuu Georgina. She was named after her European Grandfather and wore a St. George's medallion around her neck. Mokuba had asked about the medallion when he was younger and she'd told him the story of St. George and the Dragon. Mokuba didn't like St. George, St. George killed dragons. Like St. George, Ryuu-san was also practised swordsmanship and kept a shinnai behind her desk, just in case anyone got stupid while waiting to see 'Niisama.

Mokuba trusted her enough not to attempt to kill 'Niisama with the bamboo sword.

Her desk was also bullet proof, a minor fortress. So was 'Nisama's desk. It wasn't a widely known fact, but after some of the more hostile take over attempts, Mokuba had insisted. It sounded childish now, but it was still a minor reassurance.

Mokuba liked her because she wasn't scared of 'Niisama and she kept chocolates in a drawer that she would occasionally share with him. He'd give her a box of chocolates every month or so to make up for the candy that she gave him. In exchange, he stayed on her good side. And as anyone with half a brain realised, the secretaries were the true power in the office.

"Have you seen Jounouchi?" He asked as he approached her tall desk. "I haven't seen him since we got back from school." Usually Jounouchi checked in on him a few times an hour while he was in his lab. Not seeing him was highly unusual. From his position draped around Mokuba's neck, Noa nodded in agreement.

"He's in with your brother." She gave him a slight smile. "They-"

'Niisama's door slammed open, 'Niisama dashing out of the room at a full run. Mokuba blinked. 'Niisama running was unusual, but 'Niisama not wearing his coat was downright bizarre. And to add to the surrealism, he was smiling.

"BASTARD!" Jounouchi shouted running after 'Niisama, who hit the button for the elevator. Jounouchi was wearing 'Niisama's long white coat and looking highly annoyed.

The elevator doors opened, 'Niisama calmly taking a step back into the elevator, hitting a button. The doors started to close.

Jounouchi put on a burst of speed, just barely making it as the doors closed behind him. Mokuba caught a flash of 'Niisama's triumphant expression before the door completely closed and felt a brief moment of worry for the blond.

"That makes five times since Jounouchi-san returned that they've run out of the office." Ryuu-san sighed, shuffling some papers. It was probably a good thing that there was no one else in the waiting room to watch the grown men chasing each other around. "Jounouchi-san has been unusually subdued as of late, I would almost speculate Kaiba-sama is trying to cheer Jounouchi-san up."

Or 'Niisama was trying to play with Jounouchi, in his own way. 'Niisama didn't have much practise at playing, he'd never had much time for it.

"They had a..." Not quite a fight, or an argument, or a disagreement. "...Misunderstanding. 'Niisama's fault."

"Ah."

The elevator doors opened, 'Niisama striding out, looking slightly mussed and very pleased with himself. Jounouchi was sprawled in the elevator, looking more dishevelled than 'Niisama and breathing hard.

"Is something wrong, Mokuba?" 'Niisama asked, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it out.

"Nope." Mokuba smiled back. "Just stealing chocolates." 'Niisama seemed to accept the excuse, ruffling Mokuba's hair as he moved towards the door. Ryuu-san hit the button to open his office door, for which 'Niisama absently nodded his thanks and disappeared inside.

Jounouchi hauled himself to his feet, hiccupping as he did so. "Dammit, is not fair." He grumbled as he wrapped an arm around his lower ribs. "He's not -hic!- ticklish."

"Do you require assistance, Jounouchi?" Noa inquired as the blond leaned against the desk, holding his breath. Jounouchi hiccupped a few times, the noise muffled before the hiccups finally seemed to stop.

"Nah. I -hic!- Dammit! I got it." Jounouchi waved it off. "Thanks though."

"Welcome." Mokuba smiled back. "But if you need back up, let us know."

"Thanks." Jounouchi pushed himself off the desk, took a deep breath and march towards the door with a determined air. The determined air faded as Jounouchi paused, crouching slightly as he opened the door and peered in. Satisfied that the door was evidently clear, he took a step back, squared his shoulders again and kicked the door open, leaving a shoe scuff mark at about head height as he stormed in.

"DAMMIT YA JERK!" Jounouchi roared as the thick office door started to swing shut. "-NOW- YA FINALLY EAT YER LUNCH!!!"

Mokuba leaned in to get a peek a 'Niisama, who was placidly sitting at his desk, a half eaten sandwich in one hand and an angelic expression on his face. So -that's- what they'd been fighting about. The door closed.

"One of the girls in the accounting office is holding bets on if they're sleeping together." Ryuu-san said mildly, pulling up something on her computer and starting to type. "Me? I'm betting who's on top."

 

+++  
+++

 

"rrRRRRrrrrr...."

It wasn't quite a growl, but it wasn't a purr either.

On screen, Tenma glanced around as if attempting to figure out what the noise was.

"Something wrong?" Seto inquired blandly.

"....rrrrrRRRRrrrrr..."

It was more of a sound of utter contentment.

"No..." The pale-haired man looked confused. "At least I don't think so. Do you hear anything?"

"..RRRrrrrrr..."

Seto smiled faintly. "Nothing unusual."

Tenma did not look convinced. But then Tenma wasn't really in a position to argue about anything either. Pegasus' heir had apparently noticed just how close he was to losing control over his own business and was attempting to feel Kaiba Corporation out for just what was going on.

Seto wasn't about to give this game away. The papers were completely signed and in his hands, it was practically all over except for the shouting. And, if he were to be honest with himself, the suspense was sort of fun.

"...rrRRRRrrrrr..."

Tenma finally smirked, realising he was going to get nothing from Seto. "How's your wife?" He inquired sweetly instead.

There was also more than one game at stake as well.

Jounouchi had surprised him by his question during sparring several weeks ago and after some thought, Seto had realised that the blond's fears weren't ungrounded. Had Seto continued to press the blond as he had been, he probably would have ended up forcing Jounouchi to leave, one way or another.

"...rrrrrrrrrRRRrrrrr...."

Seto smirked sweetly back. "He's doing well."

Mokuba was correct as well. Even though Jounouchi had turned him down, they were still friends. And Jounouchi wasn't leaving. However, it was taking quite a bit of effort to regain some of the trust between them that had been lost.

"...rRRRrrrrrr...."

Tenma looked slightly annoyed that his barb didn't work.

Seto had ultimately decided on taking a page from Jounouchi's own book and was attempting to become more tactile around the blond, letting his actions speak louder than words. Mokuba had noticed and seemed to think it was rather amusing.

"....rrrrrRRRRrrr...."

"Is that all?" Seto smirked back. "Some of us do have work to do."

For someone who in the not too distance past had acted like physical affection was anathema, Mokuba seemed to be changing his mind with a great deal of enthusiasm, getting in hugs and pats when ever he thought he could get away with it. Which was fairly often. It was something that Seto was finding rather unusual to adapt to, although not entirely unpleasant.

"...rrRRRRrrrrr..."

"I'll talk to you later, Kaiba-san." Tenma terminated the connection, leaving the screen blank.

Seto smirk softened into what would almost pass for a smile as he looked down at the blond who was leaning against the side of Seto's office chair, mostly asleep.

"...rrrRRrrrrrr..."

The contented rumbling noise Jounouchi made increased or decreased, depending on if Seto's fingers hit a good spot, like just behind the drooping ears. He'd also lean towards or away, depending on where he wanted Seto to pay attention to.

Seto had been rather surprised to find himself absentmindedly running his hand through Jounouchi's hair while talking to Tenma. And more surprised yet to find Jounouchi leaning into his touch, so much so that he had shifted away from the desk he'd been resting against to lean on Seto's chair. Seto had nearly looked down and given the game away when Jounouchi had done that.

"....RRrrrrrrRRRrrrr..."

The repetitive motion was soothing, rough warm strands of golden hair sliding through his fingers. Almost as reassuring as Jounouchi's acceptance to -be- petted. Companionable, tranquil and affectionate without any of the usual annoyingly mushy things that one generally associated with those words.

Seto suddenly understood a great deal more about why having pets lowered one's stress levels.

"RRrr."

 

+++  
+++

 

"JOUNOUCHI!" A large man in an even bigger flannel roared as Jounouchi greeted Mokuba at the gates of the school. Mokuba blinked. Jounouchi slapped his forehead with the palm of a hand.

"Joy." The blond muttered sarcastically. "Hirutani."

"Who?" Mokuba questioned as they started walking. Looked like a giant moron to him. Who the hell wore their hair half shaved anymore anyway?

"Nothing." Jounouchi said sullenly.

"Jounouchi! I have started another gang and have decided that you will be my second in command!" The dirty blond announced, pointing a finger at the bodyguard.

"Uh, No." Jounouchi waved the guy off, muttering something under his breath about 'Yo-Yos of Doom'. "Later."

Mokuba chuckled. Not happening in this lifetime. Jounouchi was running with Dragons now, he had no use for small ratty stray mongrels.

He was rather surprised to find himself suddenly grabbed and hoisted in the air. "You're not walking away from me this time-" Hirutani's rant was quickly cut off as Mokuba twisted, kicking the dirty blond in the groin. Jounouchi's fist met the man's face as Hirutani doubled over, releasing Mokuba.

"Mokuba-" Jounouchi scolded as he idly kicked the fallen man in the ribs, causing Hirutani to curl up into a moaning ball.

"I know, I know." Mokuba shrugged his backpack back on to his shoulders. Just because Mokuba was taking self-defense courses from Noa now didn't mean that he had to step in and take over the bodyguard's job.

Jounouchi sulked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Take away all my fun."

"Sorry." His bodyguard -liked- beating up morons who deserved it. It was both an occupational perk and good stress relief.

Hirutani groaned painfully in the background.

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba mulled it over. It was a good plan, a workable plan, but there was one flaw in it that he could see. "Okay. But where are we going to find one that size?"

His partner-in-crime Noa shrugged. If pressed, they could probably have Noa make a Solid Vision one, it would work in the short run.

His other partner-in-crime Jounouchi just grinned. "They're one of the Grand Prizes in the Kaiba Land across town."

"Seriously?" Mokuba blinked. Huh. He needed to play in the arcade more often if this was the sort of details he was missing. Jounouchi nodded, a smug smirk on his face. The blond was probably echoing Mokuba's thoughts. "Okay, then I'll just call down and-"

"Nah-uh." Jounouchi shook his head, a determined glint in his eyes. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this properly."

"But-" Mokuba glanced at the clock. They only had a couple of hours to pull this off.

"What?" Noa said, looking confused.

"If worse comes to worse, we can get Noa to help us knock one out of the Catch-Claw games." Jounouchi said firmly. "It'll be smaller, but it'll work."

"What?!" Noa repeated, getting slightly irritated.

"But..." Mokuba whinged, feeling his self image flush down to the bottom levels of the teenage cesspool. There was only one game he knew of that they could get as many tickets as they needed to under these sort of time constraints. "You can't be serious."

"I am completely serious." Jounouchi grinned, sticking a fist up in the air. "Quickly now! To the Skee-ball chutes!!!"

"Awww...."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Put the briefcase down." His little brother said, his blue-grey eyes sparkling dangerously. There was a slightly maniacal air around him. "-Or the Blue Eyes gets it."

The large Blue Eyes White Dragon plushie, half as long as Mokuba was tall, glared at him like it was Seto's fault the plushie was in this position in the first place. The nozzle of the ink filled squirt gun dripped dark liquid threateningly, a scant distance from the Dragon's pale head.

"You cannot be serious." Seto deadpanned.

"I am completely serious." Mokuba said earnestly. Seto paused, looking at his brother. Despite the solemn expression Mokuba was wearing, there was a slight pleading look in his grey eyes, silently asking him not to fight them on this.

Seto sighed, ignoring the headache and the twinge in his neck and shoulder. He'd been working too hard again, he supposed. They only pulled these sorts of stunts if he'd been overworking.

Mokuba nodded, motioning to the blond blocking Seto's exit behind him. "Jounouchi, get the briefcase. We're leaving now. All of us."

Jounouchi gave him a slightly apologetic smile as he picked up Seto's large briefcase, with all of today's paperwork inside. "Sorry, Boss."

The bodyguard certainly didn't -sound- apologetic, Seto noted. "This is the -stupidest- kidnapping attempt ever." He informed them as he stood up, suppressing the urge to wince as some of his muscles protested the movement.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go." Mokuba jabbed the squirt gun towards the plushie's head again. The Blue Eyes appeared to have a rather indignant expression about how he was being treated. "Snap to it, we're on a tight schedule, people!"

Seto allowed Jounouchi to escort him out, the blond's warm hand resting against Seto's lower back. It was too much of a hassle to shout at them and get them to leave, Seto decided. It would take weeks before Mokuba would forgive him if he did that. And he was vaguely curious as to what his brother and co-conspirators were up to.

"Later, Ryuu-san!" Mokuba, Jounouchi and Noa chorused as they dragged him out of the office and into the lift. Seto gritted his teeth as muzak filled the elevator, making a mental note to reprogram the music in the elevators to something less supposedly soothing. 'Soothing' had the exact opposite effect. It was making his headache pound in time to the schmoop.

Maybe some j-rock. Or import some of that American Heavy Metal. Yes, that would work. Very loud drums, to match the pounding at his temples. Wasn't there a group that specialised in that sort of thing? Pounding on unusual items, a 'Blue Person Group' or something along those lines...

Jounouchi hummed along to the annoyingly soothing music and he made a second mental note send a memo out to the company, to ban singing in the elevators.

Then the doors opened and he was unceremoniously dragged to the waiting limousine, the driver taking off and knocking them all backwards the second the door shut behind them. Seto found himself sprawled against Jounouchi, Mokuba and the Blue Eyes plushie pinning him there. The Blue Eyes appeared to snicker at him as it took longer than normal to extricate himself from the blond.

Not that Jounouchi seemed to notice, as he cheered on the driver. Seto sighed, leaning back against the seat and deciding to close his eyes for a moment. Mokuba talked quietly with Noa and Jounouchi about various preparations and the lack of anyone being capable of finding anything in Jounouchi's room. Jounouchi seemed rather proud of this for some reason.

They made it to the house in decent time, which meant that their driver had only broken a few rules of physics instead of most of them. They ended up in another pile, this time in the middle of the limo when the car stopped, having forgotten to fasten their seat-belts. He made a painful mental note to not forget that in the future.

Jounouchi untangled himself from the mess of limbs before the others did quickly slipped into the house, taking Seto's briefcase with him. Seto wasn't sure if he was annoyed at that or not.

"Come on, 'Niisama." Mokuba motioned him out of car, once again threatening the annoyed Blue Eyes with the squirt gun. Fortunately, the driver was the only one to actually see this embarrassment, and they were keeping their mouth shut. He got out of the car and followed at a dignified pace, wondering if he was going to see his briefcase again in any sort of reasonable time period. Probably not, judging from Mokuba's expression.

"There's clothing already laid out on your bed." Mokuba instructed him as they approached their bedrooms. "Go change into them and met us out here. And remember-" He jabbed the squirt gun at the Blue Eyes plushie again. Was it Seto's imagination, or was it starting to looked resigned to it's fate?

Seto did as instructed, finding the pale grey yukata from the summer festival set out on the bed waiting for him. He glanced at his window, debating running for it for a moment, then started unfastening the buckles from his outfit. He could get the left arm unfastened, but ran into difficulty attempting to get his left arm to reach over and remove the buckles and bracers from his right arm. He could only move his arm so far before it aggravating the headache and made his vision go blank.

There was a knock on the door and Jounouchi's shaggy blond head poked through. "Ya decent?"

"Unfortunately." Seto admitted dryly, realising that the blond had his eyes closed. Jounouchi nodded, opening his eyes and stepped inside.

"Ya pinched a nerve, didn't cha?" Jounouchi commented, walking over and quickly undid the buckles on Seto's upper arm. The bracers on his arm quickly vanished.

"Or pulled something in my lower neck, yes." Seto admitted through clenched teeth as Jounouchi proceeded to ease the white overcoat over his stiff shoulders. Pinched or pulled, either way it hurt like a son of a bitch. He felt noticeably lighter without the studded coat's usually comforting weight pressing against him. "I reached into a drawer wrong."

Jounouchi snorted, crouching down and started working on the buckles on his lower legs. "Yer too tense is what it is. It's surprisin' that ya didn't do some damage ta yerself earlier."

"Hm." Seto said noncommittally. Perhaps they were not too remiss in forcing him away from work for a while. "Am I going to see my briefcase any time tonight?"

"Nope." Jounouchi flashed a grin at him, patting Seto's calf companionably before rising to his feet again. "Not until sometime tomorrow mornin', after ya get some sleep. C'mon, shirt off. Ya okay getting your pants off?"

"I think I can manage that." Seto said dryly, although he did privately wonder what Jounouchi's reaction would be if he did required assistance removing his leather trousers. He dismissed the thought. Dignity and pride demanded that he could undress and dress himself on his own. Although an assisting hand at the moment was not entirely unwelcome.

Jounouchi tugged on the sleeve of his good arm, enabling Seto to pull his arm out of it, then tugged the shirt over his head and off his troublesome arm. He winced slightly as his arm protested even this slight movement. "Thank you."

"Eh, not a problem." Jounouchi waved it off. "I've pinched a nerve or two a couple of times before. If ya need me, I'll be in my room, changin'." Jounouchi's hand brushed against his lower back in lieu of patting him on the too-tense shoulder before heading out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Seto breathed out a small sigh of... well, not quite relief. He gave himself a moment to breathe, then undid his belt buckle with one hand and wrestled the pants off by stepping on the cuffs on the ends. The yukata took a little bit of manoeuvring to get it over his shoulder and on, and then he found himself stuck staring at the obi, unable to get it around his waist, much less tied with only one hand.

There was a second knock on the door and Mokuba poked his head in, not bothering to wait for Seto to respond. Noa hovered in the hallway, holding the sagging Blue Eyes and the squirt gun. The plushie was definitely looking resigned to its fate. "I'll help you with your tie." Mokuba said cheerfully, not even asking if Seto wanted or required assistance.

Seto sighed and folded his yukata modestly, accepting the assistance with as much dignity as he could. Jounouchi would have been slightly more preferable, he disliked showing even the faintest sign of weakness in front of Mokuba, preferring to maintain even just the illusion of strength before of his younger brother. Mokuba looked up to him because he was strong and he did not wish to ruin that.

"Great. You're ready." Mokuba grinned. "Come on."

Seto glanced down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes in the carpet. "Socks? Shoes?"

"Taken care of." Mokuba assured him, pointing to his own bare feet. "Come on, Jounouchi should be ready."

In the hallway, Noa was turning various shades of pink as he attempted to hide behind the Blue Eyes plushie. Jounouchi was still in his room, cursing up a storm about tail holes, extra appendages and clothing. Noa flinched at a particularly interesting comment as Mokuba's forehead wrinkled, a contemplative look on his face. "Is that even anatomically possible?" Mokuba questioned.

"No." Seto and Noa chorused. They both paused and looked at each other warily.

Jounouchi stepped out of his bedroom, appearance rather mussed, his dark yukata nearly falling off of one tanned shoulder. He looked rather triumphant, having conquered his clothing. "Let's go!" Mokuba cheered, and then resumed the serious expression he had had in the office. "Noa."

"Huh? Oh. Right." Noa cleared his throat and pointed the squirt gun at the Blue Eyes' head. "Move it or the Blue Eyes gets it."

It wasn't -nearly- as threatening as when Mokuba had said it.

"Indeed." Seto drawled, and then proceeded to walk down the hall. Mokuba picked up the real plushie and squirt gun from inside his room --Noa having Solid Vision access in the house, save the entertainment room where he had Solid System-- before instructing him on where to go, directing him down the stairs and through the kitchen. Geta were waiting for them at the back door, which they all slipped on, thankfully a task that did not require the use of hands. Noa disappeared at the door, having reached the limits of the house's Solid Vision projectors.

From there, they stepped out into the warm autumn air, the sun just starting to dip towards the earth's edge. A selection of finger foods, yakitori -grilled chicken on skewers, dango -starch dumplings on skewers in various colours and flavours, a wide variety of mochi, steamed buns, slices of delicate lacy-looking fried lotus roots, melon slices and pots of green tea waited for them on several woven grass mats under a tree a little ways away from the house. Seto took it all in and found himself smiling slightly.

"A moon watching party?" He questioned as they approached the awaiting feast.

"Last chance before the weather gets too cold." Mokuba smiled hesitantly, eyes searching Seto's face for approval. Seto nodded, patting his brother on the head and smoothing the dark strands. Mokuba's face lit up as if Seto had just given him the best present -ever-. Seto felt a small pang of guilt, obviously he had been remiss in his duties to his brother if this is all it took to get such a reaction.

Noa re-appeared, looking slightly surprised as he realised that he was outside. Usually the green-haired boy was only visible inside, where there were projectors. Jounouchi chuckled, lifting up his left arm, the yukata sleeve sliding backwards to reveal the gauntlet he was wearing, one of the devices Seto had created for Noa to operate on the Solid System. "We gotcha covered." Jounouchi grinned, Mokuba holding up his own arm to reveal the other one. Noa gave them a look of deep gratitude, taking his usual place next to Mokuba.

"Sunset is about a half hour away." Mokuba announced, grinning at Noa, then back up at Seto. "Moonrise is not long after that. In the meantime, shall we eat?"

"That sounds acceptable." Seto agreed as he stepped forward. They removed the geta they had just put on before stepping on the mats, pausing to turn the shoes toes out before sitting down. Food was quickly passed around, Mokuba and Jounouchi performing their usual vacuum trick of eating almost everything in sight. Seto nibbled on various things, not having much of an appetite, but enjoying what little he did eat none the less.

Mokuba made the discovery of small faint lights twinkling in the distance and excused himself as soon as he had finished eating to see what it was. He ran back a few minutes later, face flushed with excitement. "Fireflies!" He cheered. "Come on, Noa! Have you chased fireflies before?"

"If I have, it's been years." Noa volunteered the information shyly, rising and following his adopted sibling. The two raced off, chasing after the glowing flying insects with the enthusiasm of someone less than half their age.

Seto smiled softly as he watched them go, grateful for their company, but happy for the silence. He shifted backwards until he could lean his back against the tree, head tilting back to rest against the rough surface as well.

"A massage would probably help with the pain." Jounouchi said quietly, a yakitori skewer sticking out of his mouth. "But it won't do much good if you don't relax some first. You'll just hurt yerself again."

"Aa." Seto commented, closing his eyes. It felt good, just to rest here like this. His head still throbbed, his muscles still weren't happy with him, but the moment of tranquillity was a rare gift. He drifted slightly, vaguely aware of Jounouchi shifting closer to him, the blond's warmth seeping in through the yukata from their close proximity. He leaned slightly towards it, his head almost touching Jounouchi's wild hair.

Noa and Mokuba cheered each other on in the distance, attempting to catch the glowing flying insects. A warm breeze, carrying the hint of the upcoming autumn chill ruffled his hair. Birds called in the distance. All quiet, peaceful sounds, so different from the noise and bustle of Domino City. He took a deep breath, held it, then let it go, feeling the recent stress melt out.

"Hey." Jounouchi touched Seto's arm and for a moment, he thought he might have infringed too far on the blond's personal space. The hand on his arm turned into a tug. "If you're fallin' asleep, ya might as well lay down."

"Hmm?" Jounouchi's calloused hands drew him down until he was laying down, smooth cotton under his cheek. He opened his eyes a sliver, noticing that he was currently resting his head on Jounouchi's lap, the blond's long legs stretched out before him.

Jounouchi was lending Seto his lap.

"S'not a big deal." Jounouchi muttered, talking to himself as his hands ghosted over Seto's head and shoulders for a moment, light as a butterfly's caress, uncertain as to where to rest his hands. "Yuugi and I use each other as pillows all the time."

The difference being that Yuugi didn't want to jump Jounouchi's bones. Probably. If the spiky haired shrimp was going to do it, he would have said something earlier, wouldn't he?

...Eh.

Seto shifted slightly, his muscles protesting as he turned on to his back so that they weren't as intimately positioned. As they had been, the barest shift in the loosely tucked yukata and he would have been touching bare skin. Now at least, he wouldn't be nearly so aware of it. He looked up through the tree branches to the softly changing sky. It was a dusky rose, turning the few high clouds a vibrant orange. He opened his mouth to comment about it to Jounouchi when he realised the blond wasn't looking at the sky. Instead, he had his eyes closed, ears and nose twitching slightly in the gentle breeze.

He couldn't see the vibrant colours of the sunset, Jounouchi was colour-blind. Seto felt a twinge of not-quite guilt, but -something- at that.

"How does the sunset appear to you?" Seto asked quietly.

Jounouchi slowly opened his eyes, looking down at Seto with almost honey coloured eyes, the sunset painting him in shades of gold and amber. "I can still see it." Jounouchi commented with a fond but definitely exasperated expression. "But now... it's like there's more."

"More?"

"More." Jounouchi nodded, lifting his head again and closing his eyes. "There's more than the colours shifting happening. Half the world is going to sleep, the other half of the world is just waking up. Bats are beginning to fly, birds are settling in for the night. Frogs are starting to sing, day flowers closin', night flowers openin'." He took a deep breath, obviously drawing in the various scents.

Now that Jounouchi had mentioned it, Seto could smell a night blooming jasmine near by. Other little details started to pick up. The smell of the grass. The chirp of the frogs. The evening songs of the birds. The soft cry of an owl. Overhead, in the dusky grey, he could see the outline of a bat flitter by.

Seto had never realised there were bats in the area before...

He wanted this, he realised with sharp pang. He wanted more of this... what ever this was. With Jounouchi.

Jounouchi still had his eyes closed, a tranquil expression on his face, so Seto was free to take his fill in just watching. It was a novel concept, to just sit back and just... look. Usually the blond was always moving, running around, chasing after Mokuba, walking a step behind Seto, laughing with his friends. Or when he wasn't, the blond was tucked by Seto's desk while Seto was occupied with work, a silent golden shadow.

The blond was pleasant to look at, fine bone structure hidden under a shock of golden hair. Expressive features, holding nothing back, quick to both happiness and anger, fierce and kind in turn. A good man, a loyal friend, and trust worthy.

Passionate too, Seto thought with a small twist of his lips. They were at a peace now, but there had always been sparks between them. There could be so again, so easily. He reached up, fingers trailing along Jounouchi's cheek, raspy from the day's growth, running the pad of his thumb against Jounouchi's chapped lips.

While he would not mind exploring that spark carnally, it was not worth losing this. This companionship. This ... contentment.

Jounouchi tilted his head towards Seto, a silent question in his eyes.

"I was just thinking..." Seto said, his voice low and slightly gravely. "That I would like to challenge you to a duel. If I win, you would..." Love me? Date me? Kiss me? Sleep with me? Marry me? Stay with me?

Jounouchi wrapped his hand around Seto's, pressing a kiss into the palm of Seto's hand, his expression both sad and wistful. "You deserve better."

Seto thought this over and snorted. "I deserve a hell of a lot worse." He corrected. He still wasn't sure what he had done to deserve what happiness he had found, but he wasn't so noble or unselfish to let it go either. Especially not without a fight.

Mokuba stalked over, his geta making crunching noises in the grass and Jounouchi set Seto's arm back down on his chest and released it. The blond then tugged Seto's kimono sleeve over the sliver part of his arm and for a moment Seto wondered why he was still hiding it. Mokuba wouldn't think less of him for it and his brother was probably still more than a little concerned over what he was keeping secret.

"Something wrong?" Jounouchi asked, sounding amused as Mokuba sat down next to them in a huff, disrupting the much put-upon Blue Eyes plushie. Seto took advantage of the lack of attention to catch Jounouchi's hand in his, loosely weaving their fingers together.

"They're all Solid Vision!" Mokuba griped, waving a hand towards the fireflies dancing around them. One of the glowing insects landed on his sleeve and he slapped at it in irritation. "They're not rea- ACK!"

"Ack?" Seto questioned. Mokuba was staring at the luminous goo on his hand with an expression that was torn between delight and horror.

"HEY, NOA!!!" Mokuba suddenly shouted, scrambling to his feet and dashing off into the distance. "I CAUGHT ONE!!! HAH!!!"

"It's getting a bit late in the season for fireflies." Jounouchi commented with a bit of amusement, watching Mokuba chase Noa around with a small smile on his face. "So I set up a Solid Vision field while everyone was gettin' dressed. But some of the fireflies are definitely real."

Seto smiled in return, absentmindedly stroking Jounouchi's hand with his thumb. Based on Noa's reaction when he had appeared out here, he hadn't been expecting such a courtesy, nor such thoughtfulness in the blond's planning. Nor had Seto, although it wasn't at all unusual for the blond to do something both random and considerate, in his own brash way.

Jounouchi poked his forehead with his free hand, giving Seto's hand a small squeeze. "You're thinking too hard again. Relax."

"Hmm." Seto agreed, obligingly relaxing again and began to make mental plans for a trip to the Jacuzzi tonight, followed by a good sleep in his bed. Both of which with the blond next to him.

Then a nagging thought that had been vaguely disturbing him finally clicked.

"Jounouchi?"

"Yeah?"

"... Is it merely my impression, or are we facing the wrong direction to watch the moon rise?"

"Dammit."

 

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"You're afraid of WHAT?" Mokuba stared at his bodyguard in shock. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he should be mortified or to point and laugh.

Jounouchi looked around sheepishly. "I'm... not so good with Haunted Houses." He muttered. Mokuba almost made a comment about dogs with their tails between their legs. Except that it wasn't far from the truth, Jounouchi's tail -was- tucked between his legs, his posture hunched in on itself.

"It's true." Yuugi nodded, sympathetically putting a hand on Jounouchi's arm. "Anything horror related. He fainted once."

"Thanks, Yuugi." Jounouchi muttered darkly. Yuugi just smiled back.

Mokuba turned and looked at Noa, who was hovering nervously over his shoulder. "And why don't you wanna go?"

"I'm afraid of ghosts." Noa admitted with a straight face.

A slight pause followed that confession. "Umm..." Yuugi was the one to breach the topic. "Aren't you a-?"

"Exactly!" Noa waved his arms in the air. "All the more reason to be afraid of them! There's some really big and scary things out there, you know."

"...." Mokuba really didn't have anything to say to that one. Jounouchi nodded his head as in perfect agreement with the green-haired boy while Yuugi just seemed to accept that as fact.

"ANYWAY." He glared around at the older boys. "Tonight's the last night we can do it. They're gonna be taken down in a few hours."

"Yeah, but..." Jounouchi shifted nervously. "Do we -really- have to do -at- Midnight ON Halloween?"

"Yes." Mokuba said firmly. Kaiba Corporation, not to miss an opportunity to capitalise on another cultures popular commercial holidays had turned the central Kaiba Land into a horror and thrill park for the last part of October. The attendance had more than doubled, the Solid Vision Haunted Houses proving to be a big attraction. "'Niisama's at a Business dinner, he won't be back until later. And-" He pulled out the big guns. "-as my bodyguard, you're supposed to go with me everywhere, to ensure my safety."

Jounouchi bared his teeth at Mokuba, a low defensive growl echoing out. Mokuba knew it was a low blow, but if it worked, it worked.

"Fine." Jounouchi gritted his teeth. "We'll go. But I'm stickin' close ta Yuugi."

"Me too." Noa agreed, floating over to hide behind the small Duellist. Yuugi just looked perplexed at the attention he was getting, even as he attempted to reassure them.

"Relax." Mokuba rolled his eyes and stepped into the largest of the Kaiba Land Haunted Houses, a virtual maze, open just for them. The rest of the park had closed down an hour ago. "It's not like the ghosts are real."

'Niisama's subtle touch was everywhere in the Haunted House, from the screams of the creatures in the background to the monsters that jumped out at them. This had been 'Niisama's project, Mokuba was taking charge of playing with the Christmas festivities, mostly because 'Niisama protested he wasn't as good with 'cheerful' stuff.

That was fine with Mokuba, they each worked with their strengths.

The Haunted House was fun, leaving more empty gaps and things to look at to leave people wondering when the next thing was going to jump out than actual things jumping out. It was a psychological game, something 'Niisama was good at, whether he admitted it or not. Distract your opponent with something, then jump from a random angle and nail them.

-Not that having lots of random monsters jumping out at you wasn't fun. It looked like 'Niisama had raided Bakura and Ghost Kotsuzuka's old decks for a lot of the half-rotted creatures.

The Haunted House ended too soon for Mokuba's tastes, he was bouncing and grinning by the time he found the exit and got past the last drooling monster. "That was GREAT!" He cheered, turning around to see how his friends had fared.

Noa was hiding behind Jounouchi, his green hair barely visible over Jounouchi's shoulder. Jounouchi was hiding behind Yuugi. This should have been an impossible task, seeing as Yuugi barely reached Jounouchi's shoulder. Except that Jounouchi had his arms wrapped around Yuugi's chest, peering out from behind the mass of Yuugi’s hair as Yuugi's feet dangled a fair ways off the ground.

Yuugi seemed unperturbed by his position as he waved a handful of Duel Monsters cards at Mokuba with child-like glee in his large violet eyes. "Mokuba-kun!" Yuugi bubbled. "Look at all the cards I got!!!"

 

+++  
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"-cause he's sleeping with Kaiba."

Jounouchi's ears twitched slightly under the ear piece that held them down. The rest of the security guards had slightly amused looks on their faces as they watched the new guy who was obviously flapping his mouth off without his brain being attached. It was a common occurrence when they got a new person, someone got the wrong idea and thought that watching over Mokuba was a cake job.

Usually either the old timers dissuaded the new guys of that with horror stories, usually involving something about sharks, or Jounouchi would eventually spar with the newbie and wipe the floor with them. So he didn't worry about a little mouthing off, it wouldn't last long.

"-What?!" Unfortunately, it looked like the new guy was flapping his mouth off a little bit TOO loudly as Mokuba, whom Jounouchi was escorting, heard it as well. So did Noa.

"Nothing." Jounouchi said quickly, attempting to grab Mokuba as the youngest Kaiba evaded his grasp and marched towards the new guy, Noa ghosting after him. The rest of the security guards looked pale and a few started to shuffle off. "Mokuba..."

Mokuba ignored him, standing behind the new guy. "What was that?" He demanded, his voice bright and friendly.

"I said that the only reason why that blond guy got a job here is cause he's sleeping... with... Kaiba...." You could -hear- the moment the guy figured out he'd just said something -really- stupid in front of the -wrong- people. Jounouchi covered his face in a hand.

Mokuba -smiled-. Noa looked smug. Oooh... shit.

"Then I'm sure you won't mind taking his place tomorrow." Mokuba said sweetly, Noa mirroring his harmless expression, devilment sparkling in both of their eyes. Jounouchi waved his hands try to warn the guy off, but it was too late. He froze as Mokuba turned his calculating gaze towards him. "You can have a day off, Jounouchi."

"Oooh..." Jounouchi whinged. "I don't wanna watch Kaiba again." Watching Kaiba was boooooring. Meant being stuck at the desk all day.

"Not watching my brother." Mokuba smiled angelically, patting his arm. "A -real- day off. When was the last time you had one of those?"

"Not watching you or not watching your brother?" He scratched the back of his head, trying to think. When had he started this job? "Um..."

"Too long." Noa said sympathetically.

"Yup." Mokuba grinned, turning back to the new guy. "I'll see you tomorrow at seven am. Don't be late."

Mokuba walked off, head held high. Jounouchi gave the new guy, soon to be dead guy, a wan smile. "Good luck. And what ever you do-"

"JOUNOUCHI!" Mokuba shouted. Jounouchi winced and ran off, giving them a quick wave. Some of the old timers gathered around the pale sweating nervous man and Jounouchi was pretty sure he heard the word 'shark' uttered.

"What am I supposed to do?" Jounouchi muttered as he caught up to Mokuba. "Day off my as... uh."

"Take Yuugi out somewhere." Mokuba shrugged. "I'm sure he hasn't had a day away from the Kame Game Shop in a while."

"Maybe go out of town? Or the Beach?" Noa suggested helpfully before disappearing at the doorway.

Jounouchi muttered darkly, sulking slightly as they walked to the limo. He -liked- his job. He got to play arcade games, duel and have the occasional fight. It was a good life. What was he supposed to do with a day off?!

He paused, looking sideways at Mokuba as they climbed into the car. "Mokuba?"

"Hmm?" Mokuba looked up at him as Noa re-appeared sitting next to Mokbua. They blinked in unison, identical confused expressions on their faces.

Jounouchi sighed, shutting the door behind them. "Don't... Just don't kill him, okay?" After all, Jounouchi would probably have to work with the bozo in the future.

Mokuba smiled at him, patting his arm again. "Relax. I won't do anything permanent." Noa nodded in agreement.

Jounouchi gave a weak smile in return. That was probably the best he could ask for.

 

+++  
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Yuugi grinned, relaxing into the movie theatre's chair. It was a rare treat to be able to spend the whole day with Jounouchi. When the confused blond had first told him that he had the day off, neither of them had an idea of what to do. They'd thought about going out of town, and then decided against it because there was no where within a day's trip they wanted to go. And just in case something did go wrong, Jounouchi wanted to stick close to town.

A 'day off' kind of meant 'no duelling', so they'd been at wits end until 'Jiichan suggested that they do what 'normal' people do. Go to the movies, visit a museum, watch a sports game. They'd looked at the old man like he was crazy, then pulled out the newspaper and starting going through activities available for a weekday.

They'd settled on a murder mystery movie that promised to have lots of explosions. And unlike High School when they'd both been broke, they had enough money to splurge a bit and get some snack foods, more like a lunch really, to eat while watching.

Jounouchi grinned back, looking pleased with himself and life in general.

-at least until his mobile phone started to vibrate. Jounouchi glanced at the device clipped on his belt. Yuugi glanced at the device clipped on Jounouchi's belt. They glanced at each other, then both got up and exited the theatre, taking their snacks with them.

"Time?" Yuugi whispered taking Jounouchi's food so he had a free hand as they stood in the small alcove in front of the door to the movie theatre. Phones really weren't allowed inside the theatre, but Jounouchi had Kaiba Corporation Security identification and that could smooth out most problems, at least while inside Domino City.

"Almost one." Jounouchi whispered back, checking his phone. Towards the end of the lunch period then. Yuugi was almost surprised that they hadn't gotten a phone call sooner. "Just a second, I got a text message..."

"And?" Yuugi stood on the tips of his toes, trying to read over Jounouchi's arm.

"It's the Head of Security." Jounouchi made a face. "Mokuba's missing from school."

"So..." Yuugi mused. "He's back up to his old tricks?" Jounouchi and Mokuba had... an understanding. Several understandings, actually. From what Yuugi could relate, in exchange for a greater freedom while not at school, Mokuba didn't ditch school without notifying Jounouchi first. Yuugi had heard of a few times when Mokuba had gotten Jounouchi to agree to ditch with him, but that was rare.

And since Jounouchi wasn't responsible for Mokuba today, that left Mokuba free to do what he pleased.

"Yup." Jounouchi nodded, pulling a face. He tapped the communicator that hung from the dog collar he wore. "Mokuba?"

They waited a moment. "Yo, Jounouchi!" Mokuba's cheerful voice greeted them. "What's up?"

"Just got a text from security. Everything okay?" Jounouchi questioned.

Silent question: Have you been kidnapped and require back up?

"Every thing's good." Mokuba happily assured him.

"'Kay." Jounouchi sighed. "I'm gonna let security know you haven't been kidnapped, then go watch the movie with Yuugi. I know I'm being paranoid, but do you mind if I check in with you afterwards?"

"Nah, that's fine." Yuugi could hear an affectionate long-suffering grin in Mokuba's voice. Despite whatever else, Mokuba looked at Jounouchi like he was an almost-brother. And he knew that Jounouchi did worry about Mokuba as if the youngest Kaiba was his own sibling. "You and Yuugi go have fun, I'll talk to you later."

"See ya." Jounouchi clicked off the communicator with a small grin of his own. "Crazy brat."

"Call Security." Yuugi reminded Jounouchi, casting an eye at the ushers, who were starting to notice them. You weren't supposed to use your mobile phones in the theatre. Jounouchi nodded, flipping open the phone and hitting a button.

"Hey. It's me. Just got in contact with Mokuba, he's fine." Jounouchi winced, covering the phone's speaker as the head of Kaiba Corporation security started shouting. Yuugi smiled sympathetically as they waited for a pause for breath. When one didn't come, Jounouchi simply started talking over him. "No, I don't know where he is, it's not my job today. I'll be checking in with him in a few hours. If something's wrong, I'll give you a call. Bye."

Jounouchi snapped the phone shut with a bit more force then necessary, turning off the phone with a jerk as he stuck it back in his belt. "You'd think they'd be able to keep track of a teenager." He grumbled. "They were doing it long before I got the job."

"... Wasn't their -not- being able to keep track of him the reason you got the job?" Yuugi questioned.

"Oh. Yeah." Jounouchi grinned slightly, looking embarrassed. "Shall we go?" He asked brightly, taking his snacks back.

"I think the trailers are starting." Yuugi nodded, trailing after his larger friend. If anything went wrong, Noa would contact Jounouchi and they'd go to the rescue. In the mean time, they had a movie to watch of derring-do and a group of heroes saving the world by the skin of their teeth.

It was always great fun to watch someone else do it for a change.

 

+++  
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Jounouchi shifted nervous as he rang the doorbell and waited for an answer. He'd heard the security system click on, someone had seen he was there, he just wasn't sure if he was welcome or not.

Then the door opened up before he could make up his mind to flee or not, Honda's happy grin greeting him. "Jounouchi!!" His oldest friend reached out, giving him a manly hug, thumping him on the back a few times. "Everything okay?"

"What? Can't I stop by ta see ya when someone's not in trouble?" Jounouchi grinned back, the barb of his own words aimed towards himself. He should have done this sooner, but hadn't really had the time. Hadn't -found- the time, like he did for Yuugi.

"Just checkin'." Honda assured him. "C'mon in. Ryuuji's just playing around upstairs, you're free to join us if you have some time to kill."

"Great. I brought bribes." Jounouchi grinned, toeing his shoes off at the door as he opened his backpack. Shoes successfully off without killing himself or anyone, he pulled a six pack of beer out of his bag and handed it to Honda, who took it.

"Ooo." Honda checked the label and nodded. "Nice import. You're forgiven." He commented as he heading towards the stairs at the end of the hall, leading to the living quarters above the Black Crown.

"M'forgiven?" Jounouchi echoed suspiciously, following his friend. "Fer -what-?"

"For what ever you're going to spring on us." Honda raised the beer and shook it slightly. Jounouchi rolled his eyes. He -really- should have stopped by sooner. He just brought the beer along to hopefully smooth things over.

"M'not springing anything on ya." He muttered as he marched up the stairs. "Mokuba decided that he and Ol' Blue Eyes needed a sibling bonding night, so I got the night off. Woulda grabbed Yuugi or Noa, but last I saw, they were happily discussin' various spirits they've met and I'm -not- hangin' around fer that conversation."

Honda raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Uh-huh."

"Seriously!"

"What's seriously?" Otogi asked, looking up from the sofa, a keyboard sprawled across his lap. "Oh, hey."

"Goldielocks brought beer." Honda showed his partner the six pack. Otogi glanced it over, his green eyes widening slightly.

"Ooo... -nice- beer." Otogi grinned, nodding at Jounouchi. "So, what are you springing on us tonight?"

"I'm not here ta spring anything on ya!" Jounouchi resisted the urge to hit his head on a nice solid object. Like a wall. Next time he brought beer, he was getting the cheapest, nastiest stuff he could find if this was the reception he got.

Otogi laughed, waving it off with the air of someone who was merely expecting the bad news to show up later. Jounouchi rolled his eyes as Honda laughed, walking into the small kitchen of their loft and pulling out glasses and ice. "Grab a seat where ever you're comfortable." Honda instructed with a lazy wave.

"Thanks." Jounouchi nodded and plopped down on the floor next to the sofa. The cushion behind him was slightly warm, probably where Honda had been sitting previously. He felt a tap on his head and glanced up to find Otogi giving him an amused wink, a silent welcome.

"You up for a beer, babe?" Honda called from the kitchen, the sound of glasses and ice rattling.

"Sounds good." Otogi said absentmindedly, his attention going back to the large flatscreen on their wall, currently showing some sort of computer program instead of a television program. Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, watching Otogi work.

It was kind of like being around Kaiba when Ol' Blue Eyes was concentrating on something , the same fierce focus as nimble long fingers flew over the keyboard. Only Kaiba was more interesting to watch. Or at least he was to Jounouchi.

Honda saved him from having to think of something to talk about by returning, setting a glass of beer next to Otogi's shoulder, then handing a glass of juice to Jounouchi. "Thanks." Jounouchi said gratefully as he took the glass. Honda smiled back and got his own glass, sitting down on the couch next to Otogi.

"You're not drinking?" Otogi asked in slightly confusion, fingers never pausing in their mad typing.

"I'm my own designated driver." Jounouchi held the juice up with a slight grin.

"-Jounouchi doesn't drink." Honda extrapolated. "Well, not much anyway. I think I've only seen you drink, what? One, two beers the entire time I've known you?"

"Seen the bad side of what a bottle can do ta ya too many times." Jounouchi said wirily, sipping his juice. He sure as hell didn't want to end up like his old man, looking for life at the bottom of a bottle. He made a face. "'Sides, it tastes weird."

"Didn't your neighbour's dog used to drink beer?" Honda questioned.

"Oh, yeah." Jounouchi agreed. "Seems ta be an individual thing, dogs and alcohol. Some like it, some don't. Now horses on the other hand, ya get the occasional one that likes whiskey. Gotta watch it around 'em if yer hitting the bottle or ya end up with some nasty horse bites."

Otogi chuckled, pausing in his programming to take a sip of his own beer. "Can't argue their taste." Yeah, Otogi seemed like the fancy culture type. "You two ready to see if I got the kinks out of this one yet?"

Honda nodded, looking interested, so Jounouchi shrugged as well. He was the one interrupting their evening after all. Otogi gave a small cackle, and then pressed some keys with a flourish.

On screen, the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and the Flame Swordsman were... well. Comparing swords. Each other's swords, to be precise. Jounouchi sputtered as he attempted to breathe and swallow at the same time and ended up coughing.

Honda helpfully pounded him on the back until he could take a choking breath. "Think that's puttin' the kinks back -in-, Otogi." Jounouchi wheezed.

Otogi beamed, proud as a new parent. Jounouchi glanced ruefully at the Flame Swordsman who was down to his long loincloth? skirt thingie? and a pair of lacy garters, and realised he was never going to be able to look at his former Deck Master with a straight face again. "'Flaming Swordsman', eh?"

He thought Honda and Otogi were going to split a rib as they both started to laugh. "Toldja he'd like it." Honda elbowed his partner.

Otogi's return grin nearly split his face. "Wait until you see some of the other stuff." Otogi cackled, fingers flying over the keyboard again. Jounouchi took a cautious sip of his drink as he braced himself for what ever the Game Creator was going to pull out of his preverbal hat. He really didn't want to end up snorting liquid out of his nose, not only did it sting like a bastard, the other two would never let him live it down.

The screen flickered to other scenes and new monsters. Injection Lily, with a Giant Flying Vibrator of Doom instead of her usual syringe. Celtic Guardian showing his heritage with some Scapegoats. A couple of Centaurs wrestled each other. Beaver Warrior not protecting his Beaver. Holy Elf performing a strip tease with her long robes. The Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Blue Eyes White Dragon sinuously twisted around each other.

"Whoa, hold on." Jounouchi waved his hands as he nearly choked on his drink. "Stop, wait... you MADE that?"

"Yeah." Otogi grinned. "It's amazing what you can do with Adobe Pornoshop."

Jounouchi snickered. "Kaiba's got that as his screen-saver."

Otogi nearly choked on his beer. "WHAT?!" Honda did a double take, and then started laughing. Otogi shot Honda a dirty look. "How the hell did Kaiba see it?"

"Some of the engineers had saved on the Kaiba Corporation Servers. They were using it to run graphics tests." Jounouchi grinned. "I thought they had made it."

Honda nudged him with his foot. "Don't tell me. You found it."

"Close. Noa found it and a bunch of other porn. I walked in on Mokuba and Noa watching it." Jounouchi admitted grudgingly. "Ended up tracking down a bunch of Duel Monsters Porn and showed it ta Kaiba a while back in an effort to try and break his brain."

"I take it you failed." Otogi smirked, watching the dragons chase each other.

"Naw, I succeeded." His cheeks nearly hurt from the face splitting grin. Ol' Blue Eyes twitched for -weeks- every time someone mentioned either Siegfried or Pegasus. "But I did leave him with a bunch of stuff, including this one. He stuck it up as his screen-saver shortly after. And it's not like anyone actually -sees- it or anythin'. Don't think Kaiba knows it's yours though. How much of this stuff out there is yours?"

"Most of the better Duel Monsters ones I did." Otogi said without a trace of humility. Of course, when you were as talented as Otogi was, humility was often overrated. "I've seen some of the other stuff, but after stumbling across Insect Queen screwing Insector Haga, I'm not touching Duellist/Monster."

Jounouchi glanced at Honda. Honda gave him a disturbed look that said he'd seen it too. Jounouchi shuddered. "Ewwww."

"Yeah." Otogi grinned, his nose wrinkling up in mock distress. "There's not enough Brain Bleach in the World."

"So..." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "This is what the two of you are up to late at night. Sit around and make Duel Monsters porn?"

"Not all the time." Honda admitted. "But fairly often."

"And if we run out of inspiration-" Otogi motioned to a camera sitting on a tripod behind them that Jounouchi hadn't noticed earlier. "-We make some of our own."

Uh... "Too much information there, Otogi." Jounouchi muttered as Honda's cheeks turned slightly red.

Otogi chuckled. "Actually, the next time Mai's in town, she's going to be helping us with some Harpy Lady on Harpy Lady action."

"Oi! Leave Shizuka outta this!" Jounouchi snapped. The other two stared at him, blinking in startled unison. Jounouchi blinked back, the anger fading as abruptly as it came. "... You hadn't heard?"

"Heard what?" Honda questioned, cautiously relaxing again.

"Mai and my little sister." Jounouchi said carefully. "They're dating."

They did the simultaneous blinking thing again. "Seriously?" Otogi squeaked.

"-And you're okay with this?" Honda queried sceptically.

Jounouchi shrugged. "Better Mai then someone I don't trust."

"What? And you don't trust us?" Otogi glared, only partially joking.

"I trust ya." Jounouchi assured him. "But I trust ya to be guys too. I -know- what you're interested in." After all, Jounouchi was a guy too.

Which was one of the reasons he was so defensive about whom she dated. He wasn't blind, he knew that his sister had grown up to be a very lovely specimen of the female gender indeed. And while dating a girl wasn't the easiest or safest option for Shizuka, he trusted Mai to take care of Shizuka and be interested in her for more then her looks. After all, Mai had waited several years for Shizuka to grow mature enough to date before approaching -him- about it.

Honda glanced back at the camera as a slow and easy grin grew across Otogi's face. "Oh... yeah..." The Game Creator drawled, a dopey reminiscent look on his face. Honda elbowed his partner for that, the blush returning to his tanned skin.

Jounouchi snickered. They really were such a cute couple.

"Not to change the subject or anything." Honda coughed slightly, and changed the subject. "But speaking of guys, was wondering why ya always call Kaiba, 'Kaiba'."

Jounouchi's eyebrow rose again. "As opposed to... what?"

"Well," Honda said seriously. "'Seto', really. He calls you 'Katsuya'."

"Only occasionally." Jounouchi corrected, idly clinking the ice in his drink against the sides of the glass. And usually in private. He still wasn't completely sure why Kaiba had taken to calling him by his given name when they were alone. He didn't have a problem with it, but it still just... felt odd. For years, Kaiba had called him by all sorts of insults instead of his name and the novelty of simply being called 'Jounouchi' had yet to fade.

Using their given names was... intimate, in a weird sort of way. With the exceptions of Anzu, Mokuba and Yuugi, who were all smaller or younger than him, he called everyone by their family name. Even Honda, and he'd been friends with Honda for -years-.

It just felt weird, calling Kaiba 'Seto'. Not bad weird, just... weird. "I call him 'Ol' Blue Eyes' behind his back." He offered with a slight grin. "Sometimes to his face too. But it don't feel right ta call the person yer under by their given name, y'know?"

Otogi snickered, then caught himself and tried to clear his throat as a cover up. Then gave up and snickered some more. "That's the BEST time to call somebody by their given name, Jounouchi!" He cackled angelically. That should have been a contradiction in terms, but somehow Otogi pulled it off.

"Ya know what I mean." Jounouchi growled to cover up the laugh that threatened. "Ya don't go around casually callin' yer BOSS by their given name."

"Oh, so THAT'S what you meant." Otogi smirked, nodding to Honda. "So if he wasn't your boss you'd call him Seto. I see. Your Freudian slip is showing, Jou-nou-chi-kun."

"Thbbt." Jounouchi stuck his tongue out. At least he didn't wear more eye makeup than a girl.

"Oooh!!!" Otogi squealed and grabbed his boyfriend. "Can we-"

"NO." Jounouchi said quickly. He didn't want to know where the rest of that sentence was going. Stupid long flat flexible freakish doggish tongue.

"He's taken, babe." Honda patted Otogi back with a proprietary air that somehow turned into a thoughtful pet. "Although... I bet there's fanfic out there for it."

"There's fanfic for -everything-." Otogi corrected. Jounouchi nodded and clinked his glass against Otogi's. Amen to that.

"Wait..." Jounouchi mentally rewound the conversation and glared at Honda. "Whaddya mean 'I'm Taken'?!"

The communicator on his collar chirped, interrupting the conversation. Mentally shifting tracks, he sat up and clicked it on. "Yo. What's up?" He asked, panic briefly flaring. Honda and Otogi immediately fell silent.

"Mokuba inquired of Noa who inquired of Yuugi as to your whereabouts." Kaiba's dry voice drawled. "He was quite concerned when he realised that you were not at the Mutou residence, as previously thought."

Jounouchi chuckled. "And he didn't call to ask-?"

"Because he did not wish to appear overly concerned." Somehow, Kaiba managed to make his voice even drier than it had been before. Jounouchi could faintly hear Mokuba's muted protests in the background.

"I see." Jounouchi relaxed again. "You can tell the Mother Hen that I'm fine, just talkin' about you and enjoying a drink over at Honda and Otogi's."

"Hey, Kaiba." Otogi called. "Don't worry, we're treating your boy well."

"Otogi!" Jounouchi hissed as Honda snickered. He swatted at his friend who cackled and tried to hide behind his girlie-boyfriend. "'Scuse me, Kaiba." He said, his teeth ground together in -mostly- friendly snarl. "I have to go kill some friends now."

"Have fun." Kaiba said drolly. "I'll see you when you get back." The connection clicked off.

Jounouchi grinned and cracked his knuckles before rising and grabbing the throw pillow that was at that end of the couch. Honda grinned and went for his own pillow as Otogi quickly set the keyboard down someplace safe. Safer, realistically speaking, as Jounouchi pounced.

"Not the face! Not The Face!!"

*thwap!!!*

 

+++  
+++

Mokuba leaned against Noa, distantly feeling like he should be laughing or crying, but couldn't quite garner the energy to do either. Noa had an arm around his shoulders, looking similarly drained with just a touch of vaguely disturbed thrown in.

"Your brother, Ototo-" Noa finally said. "-Is a Trouble Magnet."

"Tell me about it." Mokuba sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I think he invites some of it, just to laugh at the challenge, but there's a great deal that I think just finds him."

"I think it's the family name." Noa mused thoughtfully. "All Kaiba seem to be cursed to live interesting lives."

Mokuba looked at his holographic green-haired other brother, then over at the large screen in the entertainment room where 'Niisama was proudly walking with Yuugi and Jounouchi. He covered his eyes with a hand, muttering darkly. "Well, there goes my chances of ever having a normal date."

Noa stiffened slightly, and then patted his shoulder comfortingly. "You'll just have to be very selective in your choice of partners." He advised.

Mokuba made a muttered grunt, wondering where his plans had gone wrong.

It was Christmas Eve. Which technically wasn't a Japanese holiday, although it was slowly growing in popularity due to blatant seasonal commercialism as a romantic holiday for lovers on the part of opportunistic businessmen who knew a good thing when they saw one. Although the various Duel Disks did get a slight increase in sales, due to overly fond parents spoiling their children.

Never underestimate the buying potential of screaming snot nosed brats.

It had taken a week of threatening and cajoling to get his brother out of the house and into the public. For someone who pretty much ruled the city, 'Niisama didn't spend a lot of time around Domino, something that Mokuba occasionally tried to fix. 'Niisama needed to spend more time with normal people, not just Yuugi, Jounouchi and his staff.

So he'd managed to get 'Niisama and Jounouchi to agree to have dinner out on the town by calling it a Publicity Stunt, to remind people that 'Niisama was human too. And to make it look less like he was trying to se the two of them up on a date, he'd managed to get Yuugi to go along with, to act as a chaperone.

Not that 'Niisama or Jounouchi needed or wanted a chaperone. Especially since Isono was a paranoid bastard and there was a small fleet of security guards trailing behind them at a discrete distance, but at least this way it would appear to be a group of friends enjoying spending some time together.

Dinner had gone well, the three Duellists talking and poking fun of each other. Watching from various cameras that were set up around the city --usually for security during tournaments-- he and Noa had nearly fallen off the couch laughing as Yuugi and Jounouchi managed to poke, prod, tease and cajole 'Niisama into laughter. Non-maniacal or smirking laughter, just a normal laugh which somehow still managed to terrified the wait staff and clear a wide swath of empty tables all around them.

Mokuba was pretty certain 'Niisama had heard the one about why the Niwatori crossed the road before. Although perhaps not with that particular punch-line. Jounouchi really did have the filthiest sense of humour sometimes.

The three Duellists had finished their dinner, split the cheque three ways, paid for their meal and gone for a walk around Downtown Domino. It caused a bit of fuss, three minor celebrities; the King of Games, the unofficial King of the Domino and their blond shadow, walking down the street. Photos were covertly taken, Kaiba Corporation security kept some people from rushing at them for autographs, and in the background fangirls screamed. All completely normal for a day in the life of Kaiba Seto.

Mokuba had been in charge of the Christmas Festivities this year and he'd chosen 'Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy' as the theme. Domino didn't get much snow, so in the main courtyard where the duellists tended to hang out, had been turned into a tiny winter wonderland. Solid Vision white fairies made of snow and ice danced above the courtyard, sending flurries of snowflakes drifting down onto the people below. Over the month, snowmen, icicles and other snow decorations had slowly cropped up in the courtyard, inviting people to visit it regularly to see what had changed.

'Niisama had approved the plans and Mokuba had visited with Jounouchi a few times after school, but neither of them had visited recently, or seen the glowing lights at night. He wasn't sure if Yuugi had seen it at all, so off they had gone.

And that was about the point things got weird. The winter wonderland suddenly became 'Revenge of the Sugar Plum Fairy'.

Mokuba shuttered. "Remind me never ever to set them up on a date again." He mumbled to Noa, who made a commiserating sound in return. Mokuba wasn't entirely sure which 'them' he was referring to; 'Niisama and Jounouchi, 'Niisama and Yuugi, Yuugi and Jounouchi or all three of them together.

Maybe it was the three of them in any combination. That might explain the whole Doma thing, except that he and 'Niisama had been half a world away in America.

Or maybe they had to be together to fix things, trouble always going to those that could deal with it or something. He sighed, rubbing his cheek against the soft material of Noa's tunic. Or perhaps this was a punishment for watching them in the first place. He made a mental note not to do so in the future, it only ended hurting his head.

Seriously, only 'Niisama could insult Santa Claus to his face and then turn around and save the world within the space of an hour...

 

+++  
+++

 

"I..." Jounouchi announced as the shark on screen jumped up and caught a scientist. Noa cheered the shark on, pointing out another speed boat in the distance, with more beach clad people in it waiting to be eaten. Jounouchi obediently headed in that direction. "... Have been feeling like buying a lottery ticket lately for some reason."

"What would you do with the money?" Noa inquired between enthralled cackling. "With the stocks and stuff, you're already well off."

"Dunno." Jounouchi said seriously. "Probably give it to 'Jiichan. Pay him back fer all his help over the years."

Noa made a thoughtful sound of agreement, then cackled as the shark dove, catching a scuba diver in his mighty jaws.

Mokuba scoffed, fiddling with the controller as he waited for his turn to be the giant man-eating shark. "You have better odds of being struck by lightening and surviving, then you do winning the lottery."

The bodyguard made a thoughtful face as the shark created a bloodbath on the screen, puny humans trying frantically to swim away. "Does it improve your chances of winning the lottery if you've already been struck by lightening and survived?" Jounouchi asked seriously.

Mokuba opened his mouth, and then closed it. That was right, Jounouchi had been struck by Ra's lightening and survived. He paused, and then exchanged a look with Noa. Noa consulted his memory banks, then shrugged helplessly back.

"I... honestly don't know..."

 

+++  
+++

 

The bell above the Kame Game Shop's door rang. Yuugi's habitual greeting of 'Irrasshai' was smothered thanks to giggling fit from a story Jounouchi had just finished telling about the latest bit of strangeness in his life in the Kaiba household. There was quite a bit that Jounouchi wouldn't, or couldn't, talk about but the stuff he did tell was generally pretty humorous, in a strange fashion.

And it certainly made stocking the back room during the traditional rush to pick up games to play over the New Years much faster.

Jounouchi's ears flickered as he held a hand up, his face falling into a serious mask as he began to creep towards the door. Wariness replaced the laughter as he followed his best friend towards the door leading to the shop as 'Jiichan commented in a crisp polite tone that Yuugi was in the back room, he could get him if the customer wanted.

"That's not necessary." Yuugi's eyes went wide as he glanced at Jounouchi. Jounouchi shrugged, signalling his own cluelessness. What was Kaiba Seto doing at the Kame Game Shop?

As far as Yuugi knew, Kaiba hadn't set foot in the game shop since the one time he'd discovered that 'Jiichan owned a Blue Eyes White Dragon and tried to trade a briefcase full of cards for it, years and years ago. But then, Kaiba ripping 'Jiichan's Blue Eyes White Dragon card in half might have had something to do with it.

Jounouchi opened the door a crack and they both peered through to see what was going on.

"Yuugi has been... doing some work for Kaiba Corporation for a while now." Kaiba said, pulling an envelope from a pocket in the inside of his long coat. He wasn't carrying his briefcase, Yuugi noticed with a small amount of surprise. Usually Kaiba carried the portable metal safe everywhere he went with him. A sign of armistice, perhaps? "This is likely to continue in the future. And while he has refused payment for his services, I do not care to be in anyone's debt. So therefore, I would leave these in your care, for Yuugi."

Kaiba pulled the folded papers out of the envelope, unfolded them and set them in front of 'Jiichan. 'Jiichan looked at the papers suspiciously, as if anticipating an attack. The suspicion faded briefly, to be replaced by surprise as 'Jiichan obviously stopped and re-read the papers. "This is a percentage of Kaiba Corporation." 'Jiichan commented, tapping the papers.

"Yes. Slightly less than what Jounouchi currently owns." Kaiba agreed blandly. "Should he wish to get rid of the stock, he may only sell it to Mokuba or myself. Other than that, he is free to do with it what he wishes."

Yuugi looked up at Jounouchi. Jounouchi smiled sheepishly and shrugged, holding up two fingers, then waggling his hand. About two percent then.

"This is a sizeable chunk of money." 'Jiichan tapped the papers. "Are you sure you want to be doing this?"

"As stated, I do not care to be in -anyone's- debt." Kaiba assured him coldly. 'Jiichan studied the businessman seriously for a long moment as Kaiba stared back impassively.

Finally 'Jiichan nodded and picked up the papers, refolding them and putting them back in the envelope. "Yuugi will probably try to give this back to you, you know."

Kaiba nodded. "Which is why I am leaving it in your care, I trust that you will use it for his sake wisely. Tell him if you wish, or not. But as the saying goes, everyone could use a little extra money sometimes."

"True enough." 'Jiichan agreed. They stood in silence for a moment, having run out of words to say. Yuugi glanced up to see Jounouchi roll his eyes. Kaiba was getting better about some social niceties, but small talk was not among them.

"Katsuya... tells me that you've been teaching him how to play Chess." Kaiba finally said, almost awkwardly. Jounouchi startled slightly, as if amazed that his employer was actually talking about something non-work related. Or that Kaiba was talking about anything at all, instead of walking away and leaving.

"Yes. He's a good student." 'Jiichan agreed, a faint bit of pride making his eyes glow.

Kaiba nodded in return. "Perhaps we can play a match sometime." He said almost hesitantly.

'Jiichan tilted his head to the side, appearing to think it over. "I think that would be nice." 'Jiichan smiled. "-As long as there are no holograms in this one."

"Of course." Kaiba agreed, a faint smile teasing on his face. "Until later, Mutou-san." He nodded slightly and walked out the door, the long coat billowing dramatically behind him. Jounouchi let out a low whistle as he backed away from the door, allowing it to slip shut.

"Wow." Jounouchi gave Yuugi an appraising look. "Congratulations, Yuugi. You're rich."

"Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi scolded as he turned back to stocking the shelves again. "I can't keep that."

"Why not?" Jounouchi shrugged and leaned against one of the unopened boxes. "Ya earned it."

Yuugi rolled his eyes. He made cards from people's emotions and spare energy, that wasn't exactly what one could consider a job. "I'll talk to him tomorrow." He decided.

The next day, he went up to the Kaiba Corporation head offices. Actually, he'd been surprised when he'd just been allowed up to the top floor after entering the elevator. Or that he'd been allowed into the elevator at all without Jounouchi's presence. But he'd made sure that he timed this for while the blond was dropping Mokuba off at school, not wanting to appear weak and needing his friend's protection to approach Kaiba. At the top, he'd been silently greeted by a woman seated at a tall desk who was on the telephone with someone. Yuugi motioned that he could wait and took the opportunity to look around.

The room was large, with plain white walls, a lush dark blue carpet and paler blue simple but expensive looking furniture. One wall was made up of windows which overlooked the city. The room was built to impress and impress it did. Or at least, leave one nauseous, if one was afraid of heights. Yuugi remembered the story of Kaiba's adopted father falling to his death from a tower window and decided to stay far away from them, despite the incredible view.

The one curious thing about the room was a sign, taped to the large ornate wood doors that most likely led to Kaiba's offices. It was a simple computer print out, reading 'Please Do Not Taunt The Kaiba' in large letters. It seemed rather incongruous to the rest of the room, like it was a hastily done prank.

"Jounouchi-san posted the sign last night." The secretary said politely as she hung up the phone. "He said something about getting tired of cleaning up after the bodies."

"That... sounds like Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi agreed, giving her a small smile. "A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, I've heard quite a bit about you, Mutou-sama." She gave him a small smile back. "What may we help you with today?"

"I was wondering if it was possible to see Kaiba-kun." He felt nervous as he said it, wondering if he was over stepping his boundaries. Kaiba was the head of a billion dollar company, he was just the grandson of a shop keeper. That was a huge social gap, regardless of their status as Top Duellists.

"Kaiba-sama is currently busy." She informed him, not unkindly. There was the sound of a mouse moving. "If it isn't urgent, I could schedule you for his next available opening, next Thursday, around one o'clock."

He hesitated for a moment, over a week to wait was a bit more than he had expected, then agreed. It wasn't that important. "That would be fine." Yuugi agreed as she began to type. It sounded like a lot more information than just his name and he wondered what she was writing. 'The spiky-haired midget who continues to beat you at Duel Monsters wants to see you, neener neener neener'-? "Thank you, miss."

She smiled at him. "My name is Ryuu."

"Ryuu-san." He corrected himself. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. Should I tell Kaiba-sama and Jounouchi-san that you stopped by?"

"That's not necessary." He shook his head and bowed. "Thank you. See you then, Ryuu-san."

"Take care, Mutou-sama." She bowed back, her typing resuming as he hit the button for the elevator to go down.

He learned a few days later, on the New Year, why Kaiba had been so busy. Kaiba Corporation released the news about its take-over of Industrial Illusions and gaining the rights to make Duel Monster cards. Kaiba and Mokuba both appeared everywhere on the news, with Noa and Jounouchi in the background, to announce Kaiba Corporation's new hopes and goals for the upcoming Year. The Duellist Academia was unveiled as well, garnering enthusiasm among the younger Kame Game Shop customers.

It was all anyone could talk about. Excitement was rife, the entire city literally talking about it. Kaiba Corporation stock was suddenly worth a lot more than it had been the day before. Yuugi felt a bit guilty.

He arrived a little early to the Kaiba Corporation offices on the day of his appointment, vaguely startled by the buzz his appearance made on the ground floor. He'd been aware of some chatter when he had arrived a few days ago, Duellists spotting and recognising him, but to compare that to this was like comparing ripples in a still pond to the crashing of ocean waves on a shore.

Ryuu was waiting for him at the top of the elevator, looking slightly tired under her professional demeanour. "Good afternoon, Mutou-sama. It will be just a moment."

"Thank you." He smiled at her and walked closer to the large doors. There was a new printed sign, with more writing. It now read 'Please Do Not Taunt, Tease, Beg, Argue, Flirt, or Insult The Kaiba'. In smaller letters at the bottom, someone had added 'Please Feed The Dragon'. Yuugi's eyebrows rose. "Has it been a few long days, Ryuu-san?"

"Of sorts." She said diplomatically.

"I see." Yuugi winced. That was probably a gross understatement, things were generally fairly fast paced around the Kaiba clan.

"Kaiba-sama is waiting for you, Mutou-sama." Ryuu instructed. The large wooden doors opened for him.

"Thank you." He smiled and walked through the doors which automatically closed behind him. Kaiba's lair was darker than the office, the carved wooden desk dominating the room. He remembered Jounouchi's warning not to sit in the chairs in front of Kaiba's desk, they were designed to hurt backs.

"The answer is 'No'." Kaiba said briskly, not looking up from his computer screen, his fingers typing steadily. Yuugi took a moment to study his friend-rival's serious face, noticing the small signs of exhaustion under it.

"I was going to ask if you've eaten lunch today." He said, deciding to set the topic aside for now. "I'll take that as the answer."

Kaiba's eyes flickered towards him, then back at the screen. A few keystrokes later, the program he had been working on closed down. "A former employee let in some members of the press yesterday." Kaiba said, folding the laptop down. "They ambushed Mokuba in front of his labs. Jounouchi and Noa have been prowling the building since this morning to make sure no one else has managed to 'lose' themselves in the building. I'm certain Jounouchi could use the break. The cafeteria here serves decent food."

Yuugi smiled as Kaiba rose, following him to the door, relaxing slightly.

"And I'm not taking the shares back." Kaiba informed him curtly. "I need people I can trust on the share holders board. Duellists, not just business men."

-Dangit.

Maybe he could duel Kaiba-kun for it... If he won, Kaiba-kun would have to take the shares back. That would work....

+++


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It takes 150,000 words for kissing to start. Rating goes up from here, kids.  
> Snippets and further story posted at http://mischif.dreamwidth.org/tag/series:guard+dog

+++

 

The intercom buzzed, interrupting Seto's typing. He hit the button with a touch of annoyance. "What?"

"Mutou Yuugi is on the line for you, sir." His secretary said warily.

This was a first, Yuugi didn't usually call Seto directly. If he had a question, it was generally sent along through Jounouchi or asked on the weekend when they saw each other in person. "Put him through." He decided. If it was something stupid, he'd have the midget's guts turned into some new belts. It wasn't likely to be something stupid, but the thought was a reassuring one.

There was a click, signifying that Yuugi was now on the line. "Yuugi." Seto said evenly.

"Kaiba-kun." Yuugi greeted him back. After years of telling his rival to shut up and stop wasting his time, it was almost reassuring Yuugi not only could not only learn, but would do just that. "Have you heard from Jounouchi-kun?"

Seto leaned back in his chair, revising that plan about using his guts for belts. Perhaps there would be enough for trim on a jacket. He was not the blond's keeper. "He should be at the doctor's for his monthly check up."

"Yes." Yuugi agreed. "But he usually leaves the doctor's several hours ago." Seto glanced at the clock, realising that once again time had slipped past him without his knowledge, it was later than he realised. The fact that Jounouchi had not yet arrived at the game shop was a slightly worrisome one, Jounouchi hated the doctors, seeing them as a necessary evil and left as quickly as possible. The blond tended to be a bit more touchy-feely those days as well.

"-I've called his mobile a few times, but he's not picking up." Yuugi continued, worry creeping into his voice. "Noa-kun can't get through to him on the communicator either."

Now that was definitely perturbing. Jounouchi never took the collar off and there was no where within the city the communicator couldn't reach, even if the mobile wouldn't get reception. It was out of character for the bodyguard to ignore the communicator as well, unless the blond was either dead or unconscious.

"I will look into it." He assured Yuugi. "I will contact you as soon as I know more."

"Thank you." Yuugi said, and then disconnected the line. Seto turned off the phone with a sharp jab of his finger, then hit a few keys on the keyboard. A new screen came up, a map of Domino City displayed on it. There was one flashing dot on it, at Domino High School, where Mokuba was.

The second dot, which should have marked Jounouchi's location, was not present. Either the blond was out of the city, which was improbable, or something had happened.

Knowing the way their lives worked, it was most likely the second. "Noa." He called, saving the data he had been working on and closing the program. The green-haired teenager appeared on the corner of his computer screen. "What was Jounouchi's last known location?"

"The doctor's office." Noa replied smoothly. "The tracer vanished from there roughly ten minutes ago."

Which had then probably prompted Yuugi's call, as Noa was generally hesitant about approaching Seto directly. "Right." Seto rose from the desk, striding for the door. Just because the tracer vanished from the doctor's office ten minutes prior didn't mean that Jounouchi had left at the same time. "Keep the channel open, I have some things for you to look up."

"Got it, Seto."

 

+++  
+++

 

Mokuba often forgot how scary his brother could be.

'Niisama wasn't scary to -him-, of course. But then Mokuba was used to standing next to his brother while everyone else scurried away with their tail between their legs. 'Niisama was tall and carried himself like he could kick not only your ass, but your brother and grandmother's ass as well, then take on your cousin for kicks. And maybe your dog as a side course.

Which, well, 'Niisama -could-. But that was beside the point.

The point was 'Niisama was intimidating and Mokuba generally didn't notice it.

He did however notice it when 'Niisama came striding in to the front of his classroom, his coat lashing around him like an irate dragon's tail. His classmates and teacher all froze with wide eyes as if expecting to burst into flame if 'Niisama so much as looked at him. 'Niisama didn't look at them however, he looked at Mokuba instead, his blue eyes cold and hard.

'Niisama said one word.

"Mokuba."

Mokuba got out of his chair and joined his brother at the front of the class, and then followed 'Niisama out of the room without a word, leaving his bags and schoolwork behind. He could get them later, or someone else would.

One didn't argue with 'Niisama, not when he was in that kind of mood.

They walked down the hall in silence; the only sound their footsteps on the linoleum floor. They passed by the Principal's office and Mokuba noticed that both the Principle and the Secretary were hiding behind their desks, both pretending not to see them. Because if they didn't -see- Mokuba and 'Niisama leaving, they didn't have to say anything.

Kaiba didn't Screw the Rules because They Had Money, Kaiba screwed the Rules because They Had Damn Good Reasons.

Or so Mokuba hoped. But then 'Niisama had never pulled him out of school in the middle of the day either.

The silence lasted until they were in the privacy of the limo, the force of the driver's acceleration pushing them back into the seats when he looked around and failed to see his bodyguard. The blond hadn't come into the school to pick him up either. "Where is Jounouchi?" Mokuba asked, wondering what was going on that would separate the blond from either of their sides.

"We're on our way to pick him up." 'Niisama growled. Noa appeared next to Mokuba, giving him commiserating look.

"Where?"

Noa's expression turned thoughtful, his outline turning fuzzy with static. He spouted a list of co-ordinates that probably went to the driver as well due to the fact that the driver suddenly accelerated and took a corner on two wheels.

In a limo, two wheels without flipping was nothing short of a miracle. Mokuba quickly decided to put questions aside in favour of hanging on. Usually this kind of ride was exhilarating and he'd be whooping and cheering the driver on, but the atmosphere was currently too tense.

They pulled up in front of a building he recognised as belonging to Kaiba Corporation, one of the medical divisions and he got a bad sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This intensified when they got out of the limo to find Yuugi leaning against a side door, patiently waiting for them.

"Yuugi." 'Niisama intoned, somehow managing to convey surprise and the lack there of at the same time. Yuugi nodded back, his eyes that weird reddish-purple colour they got when something was about to jump out of the shadows and say 'Boo'.

"I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead." Yuugi commented, his voice a dusky purr.

"You saved some for me, I hope." 'Niisama said as he opened the door, Yuugi falling instep with Mokuba, a step behind 'Niisama.

Yuugi's lips twitched slightly. "Of course. There are some doors I don't have the power to open."

"You mean the security codes."

The King of Games shrugged as if it were a matter if little consequence. They went through a long corridor, empty rooms to either side of them, objects strewn about the rooms like they had been abandoned in a hurry. Mokuba frowned. 'Niisama had said that they were going to pick up Jounouchi, but Jounouchi hated places like this. Places that looked like haunted houses and places that had doctors with sharp pointy things that they liked to jab into him.

'Niisama ignored all the empty rooms, striding ahead like he knew where he was going, Yuugi sauntering after him. Both looked, not quite mad, but grim, like they were on their way to calmly tear someone to itty bitty pieces. Mokuba had seen this look before, just before they had metaphorically torn people into itty bitty pieces or crushed souls beneath their heels, and found himself adopting a similar air.

They turned down some side corridors and went down a flight of stairs, into the basement. A dark, spooky scary kind of basement. And then stopped in front of a large metal door. "This it?" 'Niisama asked.

Mokuba glanced at Yuugi, who seemed to be half composed of shadows in the dimly lit hallway. "Yes."

"Excellent." 'Niisama smirked, a hunting dragon having found his prey. "Noa, if you would be so kind-?"

The door opened with a pop and the hiss of air escaping. 'Niisama grabbed it and flung it open, revealing a dark cavern within. A moment later the lights inside the room flickered on and 'Niisama stepped in, allowing enough room for Yuugi and Mokuba to step in on either side of him.

It was a medical room, white and sterile. Except for the blond strapped to the almost vertical medical table in the middle. "Jounouchi." Mokuba whispered, the palatable anger of the other two suddenly clicking into place.

"You can't hide." 'Niisama announced to the room. "It's over."

A small nervous laugh echoed throughout the room. "It's not over." A slight nervous sweating man in a white lab coat insisted as he stepped out from behind the table. "Another few minutes and his body will be ready for a final injection."

"He is not your test subject." 'Niisama corrected as the man pulled out a syringe.

"He is the perfect specimen!" The man spat. "The only one to survive this long, the others all died months after the initial treatment! After this, he'll be an exact hybrid." Mokuba felt sort of queasy as he realised what the man was talking about. This was one of the original scientists that had been working on Gozaburou's Beasts of War project, which had been shut down after they had discovered it.

"And what do you intend to prove by that?" Yuugi questioned, his voice a low rumble.

"Prove, nothing! I will SHOW them all! I will show everyone what is possible, and I shall make a fortune!" The needle was uncapped, the man reaching for the IV that was attached to Jounouchi's arm. "Thousands shall flock to me for the miracles that I can perform! No more working for fools who do not understand the greatness of these accomplishments!"

"I understand more than a fool like you realises." 'Niisama sneered back. "A fool that does not realise what he is dealing with."

"Fool, am I?" The scientist waved the needle in 'Niisama's direction.

"Yes." 'Niisama smirked. "For you are meddling with what is Mine."

Yuugi's eyebrow rose slightly. "And Mine."

"And Mine." Mokuba added his claim. Jounouchi belonged to all of them. And to Noa and Shizuka and all their friends. That was the thing about friends, you belonged to each other.

Mokuba didn't quite see what happened next, 'Niisama was suddenly beside Jounouchi and the scientist was flying into the opposite wall. Yuugi and Mokuba rushed over to Jounouchi's side, Yuugi studying the IV while Mokuba undid the straps that held Jounouchi to the table. There was a hole in the back of the table, to accommodate for the tail, but the whole set up was so sterilised that it made his teeth ache.

"I've got the needle out." Yuugi said softly, his eyes a gentle violet as he pressed a cotton ball against Jounouchi's arm.

Mokuba nodded, unbuckling the straps on the blond's chest. "He's free."

"I've got him." 'Niisama announced, catching Jounouchi as he tilted forward. He lifted the blond over one shoulder, the tail sticking up in the air almost comically. "His communicator should be around here somewhere."

Mokuba glanced around and spotted a sealed box on a desk across the room. He rushed over and opened it, finding Jounouchi's leather collar and wrist bands inside. "Got them." He announced.

'Niisama nodded briskly. "Yuugi. I leave the rest to you."

Yuugi nodded back, crimson bleeding back into the violet of his eyes. A groan echoed from the back of the room. 'Niisama ignored it, turning on his heel and striding out of the room, one hand firmly on Jounouchi's ass, ostensibly to keep the tail from whapping him in the head. Mokuba nodded briefly to Yuugi and followed his brother out.

As the door closed behind them, he could hear Yuugi's dark purr, one that spoke of shadows and magic. "Let's Play A Game."

Echoing screams followed them out.

Mokuba set his jaw and followed 'Niisama's long strides out at a quick trot. They were silent as they walked through the empty building, climbing into the limo. 'Niisama carefully set Jounouchi down on the floor, the blond's head resting on the seat between 'Niisama's legs. Mokuba climbed in behind him, shutting the door and the driver took off, at a slower and more careful pace.

"I thought the Shadow Games were sealed." Mokuba commented as 'Niisama motioned to the side panel where the first aid kit was held. He retrieved it and passed it to 'Niisama who pulled out an antiseptic wipe and began to clean off where the IV had been stuck in Jounouchi's arm.

"They were." 'Niisama agreed, waving his hand over the fumes to help it dry faster. He pulled out a band-aid and put it over the small wound with the ease of having done this many times for Mokuba in the past. "But there's more than one way to play a Game."

Mokuba thought it over and shivered as 'Niisama examined the rest of Jounouchi's arms for more needle marks, finding some on the upper shoulder that had already been cleaned. "Yeah." He finally decided. There were some things he was better off not thinking too deeply about.

'Niisama held his hand out for Jounouchi's accessories and Mokuba handed them over. 'Niisama put the collar back on Jounouchi, fiddling with the leather until the 'KC' logo hung where it usually did, just below the collar bones. "Perhaps I should get a leash for him." 'Niisama mused idly, fingertips running lightly through the blond's hair. Presumably to check for bumps and bruises, but it made Mokuba wonder if when 'Niisama had said that Jounouchi was 'Mine', he had meant it in the same way Mokuba had.

"'Niisama?" Mokuba questioned as his brother fastened the leather wrist bands around Jounouchi's arms, returning him some semblance of normalcy.

"Yes?"

"You didn't need me to retrieve Jounouchi." Mokuba frowned. He'd pretty much stood there, not even knowing what was going on.

He got an oddly fond look in return, one that made him feel pleasantly more mature than he was. Like he was big enough to be the rescuer instead of the person always being rescued. "I thought you might want to be here." 'Niisama said simply.

Mokuba smiled back. 'Niisama was right, he wouldn't have wanted to miss this.

'Niisama was a scary person sometimes, but there were times that you needed to be scary.

"Thank you."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Ah." Yuugi said as the blond on his bed finally stirred and opened his eyes, much to Yuugi's private relief. "You're awake."

"Nngh." Jounouchi grunted, one hand coming up to cover his eyes. "I have a headache the size of Russia."

"I think it was a bad session." Yuugi said mildly, sliding from his desk chair and walking over to the bed. He poured Jounouchi a glass of water from the pitcher waiting on the side of the bed. "I have a painkiller here too, if you need it."

"Thanks." Jounouchi blindly reached for the glass, then struggled to sit up as he realised he couldn't drink laying down. Yuugi set down the glass and helped Jounouchi sit up. "Dunno why m'so wiped." The blond muttered with tired humour. "Y'wouldn't think bein' prodded and given a vitamin supplement would take so much outta a guy."

Yuugi bit his tongue as Jounouchi leaned against him. The Kaiba siblings had taken Jounouchi to the Kame Game Shop, where Jounouchi usually went after his visits to the doctors. Both Mokuba and Kaiba were against informing Jounouchi that he'd been kidnapped, especially if he was unaware of the events that had transpired, having been drugged asleep the entire time. Jounouchi took pride in being their guard, he was supposed to be preventing kidnappings, not having the tables turned and be kidnapped himself.

Privately, Yuugi thought it was because Kaiba thought he, not Jounouchi, had failed. Kaiba Corporation was supposed to be safe, the doctors were meant to help, not harm people. It would probably be several more years before the taint of the previous owner completely faded.

"You've been asleep most of the day." Yuugi said instead, passing Jounouchi the glass of water, pleased when his friend finally got some of the liquid into his system. Jounouchi was probably dehydrated. "I think they took more blood then usual."

"That would do it." Jounouchi agreed, slouching to the side, resting his blond head on Yuugi's head. Yuugi wrapped his arms around his friend, quietly thanking the gods that Jounouchi was back and safe. The morning had been tense, trying to find out if something was wrong after the blond was over an hour late, discovering something was wrong, the taxi ride to the medical building and pulling the fire alarm to evacuate the building under Noa's suggestion.

He'd been relieved when the Kaiba siblings had shown up, if nothing else than to present a united front. And the fact that there was very little chance that Yuugi would be able to carry Jounouchi out of the building on his own, Yuugi just wasn't that big.

The idea of Yuugi attempting to carry Kaiba -anywhere- was so ridiculous it made him smile. Jounouchi made a pleased sound when he did, poking Yuugi's cheek with a tired fingertip. "Zat's better." Jounouchi mumbled. "Y'looked too serious there."

"Sorry." He apologised, ducking his head slightly. Contrary to what most people thought, Yuugi really wasn't all that powerful or scary. He couldn't read minds, he couldn't bring the dead back to life and he couldn't control the Shadows like his Other Half had.

He could, however, materialise the shadows or spirits that people created with their thoughts or emotions. And there had been a lot in the room. Kaiba would be happy later, he'd created almost a deck worth of cards just from that one area alone. Jounouchi wasn't the only one who didn't like doctors.

He also had in his backpack, all of paper work he could find that had Jounouchi's name in it. He'd give it to Kaiba later as well. Although the next time Jounouchi had to visit the doctors, Yuugi was going in with him. From what he understood from the guy's notes, he'd given Jounouchi something to make his system unstable again, more prone towards the mutations. But since no additional mutagen had been introduced, hopefully this meant that once Jounouchi re-stabilized again, there would be no further mutations.

Of course, this also greatly decreased the odds of Jounouchi ever being able to return back to human as well. Not that the odds had ever been great to begin with.

"Where's Mokuba?" Jounouchi slurred, blearily looking around. "S'gotta be late."

"He's already at home, his brother picked him up from school." Yuugi assured him. "A driver will be by to pick you up if you're not back by dinner."

"M'kay." Jounouchi agreed, his eyes closing as he drifted off again. Yuugi sighed softly and rolled him backwards, so they were both laying on the bed, pinned by each other. "Mmn... Yuugi?"

"Yes, Jounouchi-kun?"

"... really don't like Docs."

"I know, Jounouchi-kun. I know."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Jounouchi!!" Mokuba snapped, waving a long sleeved shirt in his direction. Jounouchi startled, looking up at his charge slightly guiltily. He'd been out of it all day.

"What?" He grumbled, looking at the shirt. "It's comfortable shirt."

"It's -pink-." Mokuba said loftily.

"No way." Jounouchi grabbed the shirt and squinted at it. Okay, so it slightly tinted. "It used to be white."

"Yeah, but now it's pink." Mokuba grumbled, tossing the shirt into the 'discard' pile and narrowly avoiding hitting Noa. It was growing steadily larger than the 'keep' pile. Jounouchi rolled his eyes, propping his chin on a fist. The fact that there was a small third pile, clothing Mokuba was stealing for himself, hadn't escaped his notice either. It was mostly his old tee-shirts, either worn and comfortable or with silly pictures and sayings on them.

"Still don't see why we gotta go through my closet." Jounouchi grumbled, falling backwards on his bed, then quickly rolling to the side because the tail did not allow for that manoeuvre to be performed comfortably.

"Green. And Orange." Mokuba repeated. It had been his mantra, with the occasional blond comment and mutter about Egyptian dancing costumes thrown in ever since Jounouchi had picked him up from school this afternoon.

Jounouchi shrugged. It wasn't as if he had to -see- the actual colour clash. Those where his new jeans too, all he'd noticed when he'd gone shopping for a pair of replacement jeans after the inner seam on a pair of his older jeans ripped in a dramatic fashion was that the new pants were roughly the same medium shade as his old ones. He hadn't realised that they were orange instead of blue.

So now Mokuba was insisting on a complete wardrobe overhaul, something he'd been threatening ever since Jounouchi had started working here and was finally going through on. He listened with half an ear as Mokuba muttered about colour theories and co-ordinating everything in the wardrobe to mix and match with each other so Jounouchi could do what he usually did in the mornings, just grab stuff and throw it on.

Jounouchi idly pressed the inside of his arm, the bruised tissue screaming at him in pain. He had needle marks on his arm. Needle marks as in 'more than he usually had'. Normally the Docs took little blood sample then gave him a shot of nutrient supplement / immune system booster. Two holes.

There were four. Three small holes, one big one with a nasty bruise around it. He remembered one of them, what he had thought was the supplement. Which at the time he had noted as a little odd, because normally they took the blood sample, ran a few tests, adjusted the levels of what he needed and gave him the supplement shot. In between, they asked a bunch of questions, prodded him a bit and had him to do a few exercises so that they could see how his body was holding together.

Then he got a business card with the next month's appointment scribbled on it, went over to Yuugi's, talked with his best friend for a while, took a nap and then went to pick up Mokuba.

This time, he had woken up at Yuugi's, feeling unusually sluggish, like there was something wrong with his body. However, the only injury he could find was the massive discolouration on the inside of the arm. The last time he'd had a bruise like that, he'd given blood for vampires at the Red Cross years ago. He also couldn't find a card with the next month's appointment in his pockets.

He'd given them a call, trying to find out when his next appointment was, only to discover that he didn't have one scheduled. The woman on the other end of the phone had sounded frantic, almost terrified as she insisted they had no records for him. The weird part was that it was the same number that always called him, to remind him when he had an appointment. He'd talked with her before.

No appointment, no records, something wrong with his last appointment. And then Mokuba, Noa, Yuugi and even Kaiba had been strangely clingy ever since as well, hovering like they were afraid he was going to vanish at any moment.

It was odd, he felt strangely good for someone who was about to die.

He pressed the bruise again, the pain giving him a minor jolt of adrenaline and stopping that train of thought. There was no proof that he was going to die soon. He felt fine, better than he had in a while, really. His tail didn't even hurt as much as it used to when he laid on it funny, some of the muscles in his lower back had seemed to have loosened up and now his tail had a bit greater mobility than it used to.

But he couldn't come up with another reason for there not to be another appointment and everyone being so clingy. If things were going well and he didn't need to see the Docs regularly, they would be celebrating, not acting like he'd just come back from the dead.

He was still going to hold off on calling Mai, however. He didn't have any information either way and he'd feel real stupid if it was a false alarm. It was funny though, even with the possibility he might be dead here soon, he didn't feel all that worried. He'd cheated death before, the couple of years that Yuugi's Other Self had been running around, it seemed like every few months at least someone would die or have their soul removed or something like that. Maybe he'd come to terms with it after he'd died that one time, after being struck by Ra. There were worst things than death as the saying went, and both he and his friends had experienced some of them.

Beside, if he did die, maybe he'd get to see Atemu again. He liked to think that he was one of the Pharaoh's friends and loved ones, so maybe they'd meet in the Valley of the Rushes, or where ever that place was that the ancient Egyptians went to in the afterlife. Yuugi would know.

Not that he was going to roll over and die, no. He liked living, he liked his life and wasn't going to let go of it -that- easily. But if he was going to die, he was going to do it with at least a -little- dignity and not go out screaming and crying that it wasn't fair. Although he'd really rather go out in some sort of fight.

"White." Mokuba said, drawing his attention out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Black and white, for a colour scheme." Mokuba said, tossing his old green jacket into the discard pile. The younger Kaiba frowned, then kicked it over to the third pile, of clothing for himself. Noa snickered. Mokuba's tastes for clashing colours still hadn't gone completely away.

"I thought Kaiba's colour scheme was black and white." Jounouchi frowned, sitting up.

"No, his is blue and white." Mokuba corrected. "With black, red and silver for accents."

Jounouchi scratched his head. He was pretty sure that Kaiba's favourite outfit didn't have any blue in it. Red on the inside of that coat... vest... peacock tail thingie, but no blue. Well, at least it wasn't grape juice purple anymore.

"You look good in white too, so I'm thinking white shirts with black jackets. The opposite of 'Niisama, so you don't get mixed up. Burgundy looks good on you too, although you don't wear it often. Warm tones are the best, they make you appear more approachable."

"Red doesn't work that way on Kaiba." Jounouchi muttered, tugging on a strand of blond hair that hung in his face. The red on Kaiba looked like a stop sign, warning people away.

"It's not supposed to." Mokuba lectured, flipping through Jounouchi's closet again. "People don't look at black much, it's like a negative space that your eyes just slide over. They look at the white or the red of the coat, which makes him look bigger. 'Niisama was a bit of a skinny bean pole when he was younger so helped to give him a psychological advantage when dealing with fat old guys in suits."

Jounouchi tried to picture any of the Big Five in a coat like Kaiba's and failed. It kind of hurt his head too.

"But for you, we just add to the white shirts you usually wear anyway, then dark layers on top. Maybe some darker pants too. That way people look at your torso instead of where your tail is."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Jounouchi mused. Black was fitting for a bodyguard to wear anyway, it helped to blend into the background when needed.

"There's a lot of visual design aspects that go into gaming." Mokuba tossed him grin. "The visuals are as much of a psychological game as the actual duel."

"No one's going to take a monster that has massive attack points seriously if it looks like a giant fluffy puff ball." Noa added with a nod. "One of the reasons why the God cards, Summon Skull, the Blue Eyes or the Red Eyes Dragons are so intimidating isn't because of what they can do, but because they -look- damn scary."

"Where as something like Kuriboh is overlooked not only because it has tiny attack points, but because it looks wimpy at first glance." Jounouchi nodded. A lot of players disregarded the usefulness of the smaller monsters because of their appearance.

".... Jounouchi?" Mokuba asked, suddenly looking hesitant.

"Yeah?"

Mokuba pulled out something short and silky on a hanger, holding it away from his body as if he were afraid it was going to infect him with cooties. "... It's a dress."

"Oh! Yeah." Jounouchi nodded. "That's mine."

"It's A Dress." Mokuba repeated.

"... Yes." Jounouchi agreed. He'd forgotten he still had it. "I haven't worn that since High School."

"-Why-?" Mokuba looked both very panicked and concerned. Jounouchi couldn't see Noa's expression, the green-haired boy had his head in the closet, looking for something.

"Girl's Beauty contest, back in High School." Jounouchi sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Grand prize was tickets to a popular concert. I thought if I could win, I'd be able to sell the tickets fer some extra cash. So I dressed up and went as Marilyn Monroe." And then gotten a pie thrown in his face. And then tossed out of the competition for beating up half the boys in the school. While wearing said dress. And heels. Biiig damn heels. He'd practised for hours before he'd been able to walk with any sort of grace in those.

Although he'd been rather annoyed that he had been disqualified for the Swimsuit Portion of the Event, he'd had the flower print bikini all ready and everything.

"Hold on." He reached under the bed and pulled out a box. He rummaged through it for a moment and pulled out a yearbook, quickly flipping through the pages. "Ha! Here ya go." He pointed to a picture and handed the book to Mokuba.

Mokuba stared at the picture for a moment, making a funny squeaking sound. "Make-up's over done." He finally commented.

Jounouchi shrugged. It wasn't like he had much practise with cosmetics.

"But the heels..." Noa grinned as he came out of the closet, reclining in mid-air, his pants legs rolled up to the knees. "Make the legs look Damn Sexy."

Mokuba let out a larger squeak, dropping the yearbook. Jounouchi covered his mouth and chuckled. His shoes were just a little bit too big for Noa yet. And it was probably a good thing that Noa could float, cause as soon as the shock wore off, Mokuba was probably going to try to get his hands on the green-haired boy's throat and there was no possible way for Noa to run in those shoes.

Noa winked at Jounouchi, clicking the heels of the red high-heeled pumps together with a playful leer. "There's no place like home-?"

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto woke up with a head full of blond hair attempting to shove itself up his nose. Seeing as this was not a normal event, and he could not breathe, it was a bit of a rude awaking.

Awareness came quickly. It was a movie night, they were all sleeping on the futons on the floor of the entertainment room. Mokuba was a snoring presence at his back, Noa floating above him like a protective shield, his own breathing in harmony with Mokuba's. Seto was curled around Jounouchi, spoon fashion, the blond's tail tucked between Seto's legs. One of Seto's arms was numb from Jounouchi using it as a pillow, the other arm wrapped around Jounouchi's bare torso. Yuugi was pressed up against Jounouchi's other side, the blond's arms wrapped around Yuugi's slight form and one leg tossed over him.

He moved his head to the side, spitting out some of the hair that gotten into his mouth. The blond's hair wasn't exactly long, but it wasn't short either and there was a lot of it. He tried to brush some out of his face and found the arm that wasn't pinned by Jounouchi's head was also trapped, by Yuugi. Well, no help for it then. He sighed and rested his head against Jounouchi's warm one. The blond just exuded heat.

It was rather odd to be curled around him like this; normally Seto slept flat on his back and didn't move until morning. Jounouchi was usually the restless sleeper, the one who moved around in his sleep, waking up at the slightest noise or movement. Yet somehow the blond seemed to be content to be trapped like he was. He hadn't woken or stirred at all.

Seto supposed that it probably had something to do with Jounouchi's kidnapping, they were all feeling rather protective of the blond and sticking closer to him than usual. He wasn't sure if Jounouchi knew what happened or not, if he did, the blond wasn't making any comments.

It felt strangely good as well, to just hold the blond like this. The blond fit well against the curve of his body, the skin under his hands was soft over solid muscle. Seto flexed his fingers slightly, taking slightly guilty pleasure in stroking the bare flesh. Jounouchi usually slept without a shirt, something Seto had mentally filed away under 'look, but don't touch', although at the moment all he could do was touch, he couldn't see.

His hand encountered another hand and he froze, torn between pulling his hand away and pretending everything was normal. The other hand grabbed his and pressed it against Jounouchi's chest. Seto lifted his head slightly, peering over Jounouchi's head and met Yuugi's understanding look. Yuugi held his hand there, and Seto had the strangest feeling as if there were more to the gesture than being caught petting the blond, more than tacit permission to continue doing so.

Almost as if Yuugi was -handing- Jounouchi over to him.

Seto stared back. Yuugi gave him a small smile back, bitter sweet. A small piece of the puzzle that was 'Yuugi-and-Jounouchi' fell into place.

"You're in love with Jounouchi." He whispered, the words escaping as the realisation struck.

Yuugi looked away and guiltily removed his hand, leaving Seto's palm pressed against Jounouchi's chest, right above the heart. "My Other Self used to tease me that I acted like Jounouchi-kun set the Sun in the Sky."

"I would have thought that would have been the Pharaoh himself." Seto said carefully, trying to feel his way through what was probably going to be A Conversation. His intentions were not to hurt the smaller duellist, but it didn't feel like a sort of casual exchange where pain could be avoided on either of their sides.

"No." A small smile flitted across Yuugi's face. "He hung the Stars and the Moon."

Golden Jounouchi as the Sun and the mysterious Atemu as the Moon. Somehow fitting, with Jounouchi brightening the days and the Pharaoh illuminating the nights, if a tad poetic. "If I were a greater person...." Seto said roughly, possessively tightening his grip on the blond. "I would step aside."

"No." Yuugi shook his head. "I've had my chances and said nothing."

Seto frowned. Yuugi may not have been a confrontational person, but he wasn't a coward either. "Why not?"

He got a wan smile in return. "I'm still in love with my Other Self." Yuugi confessed softly. "That's not fair to Jounouchi-kun. He should have someone of his own to be in love with."

Because Yuugi was not only 'in love' but also loved Jounouchi, he could let him go. It was a disturbing and humbling thought. In Seto's experience, if you loved something, you held on to it with both hands so it wasn't ripped from you. Although he was learning to not hold so tightly that he crushed what he held close. It was a fine balance, but one he was starting to slowly learn.

"I used to... well, I suppose 'hate' is a bit strong of a word, but I did. I loathed Katsuya." Seto said quietly, absently petting Jounouchi again. Yuugi blinked at him, looking confused. "You defeated me, making me look at you and you would never look at me, only at Katsuya. I was stronger than him, the better duellist, but you'd always turn your back to me to smile at him."

Yuugi shook his head, his small hand resting on Seto's again, their fingers loosely twined together. "You were looking at us, yes. But you never saw us, except as an obstacle to be overcome. That was why my Other Self was always able to defeat you, because you would look right as us and reject what you saw."

Seto grunted, not willing to admit the possibility that Yuugi could be right. How many times had he pondered the source of Yuugi's split personality, denying what he saw or heard? How many strategies had he devised, only to fail because Yuugi didn't respond correctly to the odds he had predicted? How many times had he been saved by that self same trait?

Fingers still tangled together, their hands slid down the rippled muscles of Jounouchi's abdomen. "But..." Yuugi said softly. "We knew you. We knew who you were, your weaknesses and your strengths. We, my Other Self admired you. I still do." The spiky haired duellist coloured slightly in the dim light, obviously embarrassed to admit the last part. Yuugi gave him a shy smile that didn't quite cover the minor humiliation in his eyes. "You're kind of larger than life, you know."

"So I've heard." Seto commented, pleased and embarrassed by the complement. Jounouchi distracted them by making a happy little groan, leaning slightly into their hands. Yuugi giggled softly, any discomfort fading as he looked at the blond. He wiggled his fingers, lightly scratching Jounouchi's stomach through Seto's splayed fingers.

Jounouchi made a deeper groaning sound, arching backwards into Seto as the leg splayed over Yuugi's lower limbs started to twitch in time to the scratching. "He's got a sensitive belly." Yuugi confided fondly.

"So I see." Seto mentally filed that titbit of information away for later. Lower abdomen and the back of the ears, if Mokuba was to be believed correctly. He wondered what other spots on the blond's body would have a similar effect.

Mokuba made a noise and they both froze, like small children caught doing something wrong. Which if Seto was being brutally honest, not-quite molesting Jounouchi in his sleep, regardless of the fact the blond slept without a shirt and therefore practically invited it, was kind of naughty of them. Yuugi let out a small giggle, removing his hand and nervously tucking the limb against his body.

They were silent as Mokuba mumbled something about cheese. Noa sleepily responded with a comment about cats, then they both resumed snoring softly. Seto let a small snicker. His brother was so strange sometimes.

When he glanced up again, Yuugi was looking at him with fond eyes. "What?" He asked, resisting the urge to check to see if there was something on his nose.

"You used to say that you had no use for friends." Yuugi said happily. The rest went without saying. Look where Seto was now, in the middle of a puppy pile with two of his formerly sworn enemies.

"I could still hate you if you want." He rumbled, but his heart wasn't in it.

"That's okay." Yuugi assured him, playfully ducking his head and hiding behind Jounouchi. Or at least as much as one could hide with a hairstyle that made up a third of your body height. The playfulness quickly drained from Yuugi, replaced by melancholy. "... Anyway. I just wanted.... wanted... I'm glad to see both you and Jounouchi-kun happy."

The last part came out in a bit of a mumble on Yuugi's part and a bit of a jolt on Seto's part. He hadn't been too far wrong with his first impression. But it wasn't so much that Yuugi was conferring Jounouchi to him, but more a silent statement that Yuugi was stepping away, he wouldn't interfere with anything developing between the blond and himself.

Seto frowned, the shapes of things in his head re-arranging themselves and he wasn't sure he liked the new configurations. To separate Jounouchi from Yuugi... Even voluntarily, it didn't make logical sense, the two were just too big of a part of each other's lives. While Jounouchi may not have been in love with Yuugi, he certainly did love him. As a brother, as a fellow warrior, as a friend.

But Yuugi had always been the martyr sort.

Seto made a thoughtful sound, ideas starting to churn in his head as he settled back down to sleep, plots and strategies.

He didn't think to question when or how Yuugi had become part of his Dragons Hoard.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Okay, here's a question for you." Mokuba mused as his magician killed off several roaming trolls on screen. "Everyone's got a card that symbolises themselves. 'Niisama's card is the Blue Eyes White Dragon, yours is the Red Eyes Black Dragon, Yuugi's is the Black Magician... What would mine be?"

"Oh, that's easy." Jounouchi set his controller down and reached into his back pocket, where his cards were usually stored. He shuffled through them for a moment before pulling out a card and tossing it to Mokuba. Mokuba scrambled to set his controller down in time to catch it and ended up fumbling with the rectangular piece of paper for a moment.

The youngest Kaiba paused as he looked at the card. "... Baby Dragon?" Wind attribute, level three. 1200 attack points, 700 defense.

"Yup."

"What about me?" Noa asked, taking one hand off of his controller to point to himself.

"Got that covered." Jounouchi smirked and tossed a second card at Noa, who flickered briefly before catching it.

"Time Wizard." Noa deadpanned. Spell Caster / Effect card, light attribute, level two. 500 attack points, 400 defense.

"Yer alive, yer dead, yer alive, yer dead, yer alive again, and this time ya age a good several years." Jounouchi shrugged, putting his deck away and picking up his controller. "It's a good card. And if you combine the two, ya get Thousand Years Dragon."

.... The bodyguard did have a point. However....

Mokuba frowned, looking at the small grinning orange dragon. "This is revenge for the dress thing, isn't it?"

'Niisama hadn't been in school when Jounouchi had dressed in drag, it had been right around the time of Death-T. The expression on 'Niisama's face upon seeing the photographs had been worth some photographs of their own. But he probably shouldn't have mentioned that to Jounouchi....

"Yes." Jounouchi agreed, smirking crookedly. "Yes it is."

 

+++  
+++

 

"Hey, guys?" Jounouchi looked up at the technicians who were up in the observation booth watching him. He'd already had one successful test run with the new Solid System upgrades today and was feeling pretty good about it. "Mind if I bring a friend out to play with this too?"

The technicians hemmed and hawed a bit. The technology they were working on was still new enough that everyone was leery about security leaks. "I've already gotten clearance from Kaiba." He added. "The big one, not the little one."

Murphy, the de-facto spokesperson whenever bad news may have been looming in the forecast, spoke up. "That should be fine." He said.

"Great." Jounouchi grinned as the techies murmured back and forth over who it could be.

Then Yuugi stepped out on to the floor and the murmur turned into a full grown buzz of excitement. He was pretty sure he heard a shout of 'We're not Worthy!' from the back as everyone gawked. Yuugi didn't duel as much as he once had, mostly to avoid the King of Games title, but that didn't mean his popularity had shrunk any.

"Are you -sure- my being here is okay?" Yuugi asked nervously, fiddling slightly with one of the studded black leather cuffs on his wrist.

"Yeah." Jounouchi grinned, slinging an arm around Yuugi's thin shoulders. "Asked Kaiba -ages- ago, this is just the first time I've gotten through a complete game while you've been here."

Yuugi nodded, giving him a small smile. "Thanks."

"No worries." He patted Yuugi on the back then raised his voice to get the still buzzing techies' attention. "Hey, so whaddya guys think the system is up for? He and I duel it out or we tag team against the computer?"

"I... er..." Murphy cleared his throat. "Just a regular duel, please."

Jounouchi nodded and saluted. Yuugi walked to where the shadowy opponent usually stood and they both activated their duel disks. "DUEL!"

Playing against the computer was fine and all, but nothing got Jounouchi's blood up and racing like facing off against a real person. And it never mattered how many times he duelled Yuugi, there was always some new strategy, some new challenge, something new and fresh. Yuugi was a strong opponent.

The techies cheered them both on, shouting readings to each other as the duel progressed. It was a good duel and Jounouchi could feel the end of the duel when Yuugi summoned Black Magician Girl. He had nothing on the field to counter her, no plan of attack to get around her or anything.

But he wasn't about to give up without a fight. Or something else... After all, there were certain things he could only do while Yuugi was around.

"Just a second, I wanna check something." He called, walking around the duelling area to where Yuugi was standing. Yuugi gave him a quizzical look and he grinned back, reminding himself that touching of the other duellist during a duel disqualified the game.

He then stepped into the arena area, eyeing the face down trap cards with barely concealed temptation. He'd often wondered if it would be possible to step on the cards and ride them like you would a magic carpet. But that was an experiment for another day.

Instead, he walked up behind the floating Black Magician Girl and flipped her skirt. Since she was floating well above eye level, this gave him an unobstructed view of what exactly she wore under that little skirt of hers.

Not that he got that long of a look; she squeaked, and the club end of her magic sceptre came crashing into his face, sending him flying on top of one of the trap cards.

As it turned out, a face down trap card -could- hold a human's weight, but only for a few seconds before it dropped you on your butt onto the harsh unforgiving ground.

"Jounouchi-kun!!!" Yuugi shouted, his voice torn between horror and concern.

Jounouchi raised his hands into the air, a huge grin on his face despite the ringing in his skull. "WORTH IT!!!!" He cheered gleefully.

From the corner of his eye he saw Yuugi cover his eyes with a hand as he muttered to himself. Jounouchi was pretty sure that the word 'Porn' uttered a few times. Black Magician Girl hrumphed and crossed her arms under her chest, but he noted she was floating at a much more modest level.

"Jounouchi-san?" Murphy's concerned voice echoed throughout the room. "Jounouchi-san? Are you alright? Do you require medical assistance?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He waved it off. And even if he wasn't, he deserved it. He had done it knowing he deserved what ever he got. But it had been worth it. Completely, utterly, totally worth it. "Sorry about that, Black Magician Girl."

She sniffed and made a general motion that translated to 'Boys are Dumb' in any language, Human or Duel Monster, before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Come on." Yuugi offered his hand to Jounouchi with a long suffering look. Jounouchi grinned back, grabbing his best friend's hand and allowing Yuugi help pull him up. End of the duel, but he'd pretty much forfeited the game anyway. "Be grateful that's not Mana-chan anymore." Yuugi commented. "Or Mahaado-san would have your hide for molesting his apprentice."

Jounouchi laughed nervously, he hadn't thought of that. And he'd -seen- Black Magician angry before, there was no way he wanted it aimed in his direction.

The speaker gurgled. "Are you sure you're completely fine, Jounouchi-san?" Murphy's concerned voice echoed through the room. "The Solid System isn't meant to react like that-"

"-Which it probably should be." Jounouchi snickered, touching what was going to be a marvellous shiner under his left eye once it finished changing colours. "I doubt I'm the only one who's had that crazy idea before and I doubt I'm gonna be the last."

Especially since those raised platforms were still in style, he could just see some idiot kids lying down to try to look up Change of Heart's skirts or something.

Which, since the card was generally male, could be a real nasty surprise...

Yuugi sighed. "Come on, Jounouchi-kun." With a shake of his head he began to pull Jounouchi towards the lockers. "Let's get an ice pack for your eye."

"So Worth It~!" He sang again, letting himself be pulled along. He waved to the technicians, who waved back, shaking their heads at his antics.

Yuugi muttered to himself as he sat Jounouchi down on one of the benches in the locker room, tilting his face up to the light so he could see Jounouchi's face clearly, violet eyes wide with worry. "Are you sure you're okay? That was a pretty solid hit."

"I got a hard head." He assured Yuugi, running a hand down the small of his back, checking his tail. He'd landed on his butt and expected to be in a lot more pain than he was. He felt a little sore, but none of the excruciating agony he'd expected.

"Yes, but..." Yuugi sighed. "-Why- did you do that, Jounouchi-kun?" The look on Yuugi's face wasn't... disappointment exactly, but it was close.

Jounouchi looked up at the ceiling, away from Yuugi. "I figured why not? Y'know, cause I might not get another chance to do so and stuff."

He'd decided, years ago, that when Yuugi asked a question, he'd be as truthful about it as possible. Yuugi was as straight forward as possible, Jounouchi could do no less than return the favour. Well, except for the kissing Kaiba thing, but that was between him and Ol' Blue Eyes.

"Jounouchi-kun?" Yuugi questioned, his voice thick with worry. He wasn't out rightly asking, Jounouchi didn't have to tell him, but...

He leaned forward, hiding his face with his hair. Unfortunately, that was where Yuugi was standing, so he ended up resting his forehead against Yuugi's chest, the buckles on Yuugi's shirt cold against his skin. Yuugi was a short skinny little guy, but it was mostly solid muscle and bone under the black clothing he wore.

"I didn't get a card for the next doctor's appointment." He admitted as Yuugi wrapped his arms around Jounouchi's shoulders. "And I can't get hold of anyone to find out why. If I was fine, they'd tell me, right? But they're not and the only reason I can figure is because there's nothing more they can do..." He bit his lower lip, cutting off the flow of words before he could say the big 'D' one.

Yuugi went tense against him, hands gripping the material of Jounouchi's shirt almost to the point of it being painful. "Yuugi-?" He questioned.

"What is Kaiba doing right now, Jounouchi-kun?" Yuugi questioned, his voice pleasant but with an undertone of harsh steel. For a minute, Jounouchi almost thought Yuugi's Other Self was back and was ready to kick butt.

He lifted his head, pulling back slightly from Yuugi's grasp so he could look at his best friend's face. Yuugi smiled at him, but there was an angry, tense look around his eyes. "Um... Paperwork. All of his meetings were this morning-"

"Good." Yuugi smiled amiably at him, then reached down and grabbed his collar, triggering the communicator that hung around Jounouchi's neck. "We Need to Talk, Kaiba." Yuugi said over Jounouchi’s protests in that cheerful-yet-scary-beyond-belief tone.

"Wait!" Jounouchi yelped, trying to disengage both himself and the communicator from Yuugi's grasp. "Yu-Yuugi!!"

"Yuugi?!" Kaiba's bewildered voice echoed.

"We're on our way up to your office now." Yuugi continued over their objections. "Please call Mokuba and Noa to join us. Thank you."

Yuugi cut off the communication, tugging on Jounouchi's collar. "Let's go, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi said firmly, pulling him along by the collar, forcing Jounouchi to follow or be dragged along.

"What the-?" Jounouchi stumbled along, debating just picking up Yuugi and finding out what the hell was going on. But Yuugi had that stubborn look to him, like he could easily march into the gates of Hell and back out again without a single singe on him. "The Frack?! YUU~GI!!!"

 

+++  
+++

 

The first thing that flittered across Seto's mind when Yuugi and Jounouchi walked in, Yuugi with a firm grasp on Jounouchi's leather collar, was that perhaps Jounouchi truly did require a leash. It would mean that the blond would not be bent almost in half as he was dragged around by his smaller friend.

The idea was quickly set aside in favour of more serious business. Mokuba, with Noa floating over his shoulder, stood to his right, looking confused. "What is the emergency, Mutou?" He rumbled, perplexed over Yuugi's behaviour. Twice in two weeks Yuugi had directly called him. Perhaps they should invest in a communicator for Yuugi as well.

Yuugi walked up to the front of the desk, releasing Jounouchi's collar and making him stumble a few steps. "Jounouchi-kun believes that he is about to die." Yuugi said without preamble as Jounouchi scrambled to regain his balance.

Jounouchi glared at his diminutive best friend as he straightened the collar around his neck. "Well, what else am I supposed ta think?!" He snapped. "I didn't get a next doctor's appointment, I can't get a hold of anyone to talk to and ya all are actin' like I'll disappear at a moment's notice!!"

"Bust~ed..." Mokuba whispered as Noa winced. Yuugi gave Seto a particularly harsh glare as if to say this was all his fault, Fix It!

Which, Seto sighed as he intertwining his fingers in front of him, he supposed it was his fault. It had been his decision not to mention what had happened to the blond, one that Yuugi had been opposed to, but had acquiesced to because Jounouchi lived with Seto.

Apparently, Jounouchi didn't adhere to the adage 'no news was good news'.

"You are not dying." Seto informed Jounouchi bluntly. Jounouchi jerked slightly, as if taken back by this information.

"One of the Docs went psycho on us." Mokuba said, his blue-grey eyes silently asking Jounouchi to understand. "He grabbed you, was going to continue Gozaburou's experimentations."

"We got you out." Noa added helpfully. "Before that happened. But..."

"The rest of the people on that project are currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation." Seto continued. "We thought it prudent to keep you close to evaluate for ourselves what your health status before releasing you into their tender care again."

Jounouchi let out a deep giddy breath. "So I'm really not dying? Every thing's fine?"

"As far as we can tell." Seto affirmed. "We'll know for certain after you visit the doctors again."

The triumphant howl Jounouchi released was almost deafening. He grabbed Yuugi and swung him around in a wide circle before kissing him on the cheek and releasing him. Then grabbed Noa and spun him around as well. Mokuba laughed as Jounouchi grabbed him as well, spinning the two younger Kaiba around in dizzying circles.

Seto didn't get spun in a circle due to the fact that he was sitting down in his chair, but he did get a bear hug and a quick kiss on the lips. Seto paused as Jounouchi grabbed Mokuba and Noa again, attempting to do some sort of bizarre laughing dancing jig with them.

He pressed a finger against his lips. This time he had been paying attention, but it had been too fast to get more of an impression other than 'warm' and 'vibrant'. Jounouchi kissed like he had too much energy to burn. Which, at the moment, he probably did.

Seto glanced up and saw Yuugi's amused sympathetic look. So maybe there had been a reason for dragging Jounouchi along by the collar, it was one way to ensure the blond went where you wanted him to go.

"Just wait until he remembers the 'kidnapping' part." Yuugi commented dryly. Seto winced. Somehow he didn't think Jounouchi would be all that pleased about that part. Which had been one of his reasons for wanting to keep it quiet.

So much for that plan.

But at the same time, he mused as he watched Jounouchi laughing with his brother, couldn't find himself too terribly upset.

+++  
+++

 

Noa let out a small laugh from his work terminal in Mokuba's lab that grew into a muffled cackle. Mokuba twisted his head to look at his other brother, a grin growing on his own face. "What?"

"I think we just set a new record for fastest death upon entrance to the game." Noa snickered, pointing to one of his screens. "Five people just showed up as a Sentai Team."

"Power Rangers?" Mokuba grinned, pushing his chair back to glance at Noa's cluttered screens. He'd been pleasantly surprised when 'Niisama had put Noa in charge of the new Virtual Game and had been pleased to see his hopes surpassed. Noa was having a wonderful time as the head Moderator and the games were running reasonably smoothly with a minimum of tweaks and adjustments pausing game play.

"Yeah." Noa flashed him a wide grin. "Coloured uniforms and all. They were in the middle of their introductory speech when every player in the immediate area attacked them. Under two minutes from logging in to character death. From what I can see, the newly deceased players are very pleased with themselves."

"You banning them?" Mokuba questioned as lines of text quickly scrolled through several of Noa's open program windows. Rumours of this were probably going to circulate for a while, with lots people claiming the death blow. All part of the fun and games that was a close knit role-playing community.

"Nah." Noa shook his head. "It's a couple of regulars who pulled it, they do stuff like this every so often to keep people on their toes. Maybe give them a mild warning so they won't do it again immediately."

"Good idea." Mokuba grinned. The other Mods would probably be busy for a while keeping copy-cats down. And this way, there was time for everyone to cool off and forget about it while the tricksters thought up their next prank. Noa grinned back and they both resumed their work, fingers flying over the keyboards at their individual stations.

"Um... Ototo?" Noa's worried voice drew him out of his checks of the security system. They were getting ready to launch some new security procedures, he was just checking them out before 'Niisama did the final check on them.

"What's up, Noa?" He asked absentmindedly, saving the work he had thus far done. The last thing he wanted to do was lose all the data he'd just finished tweaking. Noa made a pained sound and he glanced up.

To find Noa not there.

"I'm here." Noa's disembodied voice said, a headset like Jounouchi wore floating in mid-air. "But I'm having trouble."

"Yeah, I can see that." Mokuba agreed. Or not see that, as the case may be. He walked over and leaned over the back of Noa's chair, surprised to find that he could still -feel- Noa's body, even if he couldn't see it. He reached over Noa's shoulders, his braid sliding over his shoulder and onto Noa's lap as Mokuba hit some buttons on the keyboard. Noa grabbed the braid, fiddling with the tail on the end.

"I found your problem." Mokuba declared after a few moments. Noa had difficulties looking over his own code, which was why Mokuba was doing it. It was rather hard to defend your own humanity when you were looking at the bits and bytes that made one's self up. And 'Niisama had made sure that there were some security blocks preventing Noa from accessing and altering his own core, to prevent both duplication and Noa from giving himself more access to the system. "You're overloading the processors. You're -not- supposed to be doing twenty things at once, 'Niichan."

"Sorry." Noa's voice said apologetically.

Mokuba sighed. Noa was still trying to prove himself, theoretically to 'Niisama, but Mokuba privately thought that it was to redeem himself in Noa own eyes. "Cut back to four, if you could. See what that does. -Try- to stay within normal human limits okay?"

He could feel Noa nod against his cheek as the keys on the keyboard started to press themselves. On screen, windows opened and closed as Noa made his apologies and removed himself from some of the windows. There was a flicker accompanied by a faint buzz as Noa re-appeared, his image flickering a few times before solidifying again.

"I'm back!" Noa grinned, flexing his fingers as some of the windows finished closing. Most people didn't know how reassuring it was to see one's hands until they weren't able to. "Thanks, Ototo."

"'Ototo'?!" A surprised voice said from Noa's headset right next to Mokuba's ear. Mokuba glanced up at the screen to see a window that had been just been uncovered. A pair of wide light brown eyes looked at them from under slightly familiar messy dusky dark pink hair.

"Leonhart?!" Mokuba stared. "Leonhart von Schroider?!"

"Noa-kun said that he had two brothers, but I did not know Mokuba-kun had another brother!" Leonhart stared back. "Or has something happened to Seto Kaiba?!"

"No, 'Niisama is fine. Noa is..." Mokuba and Noa exchanged a look. "...my other brother. It's complicated. What are you doing here?"

"Playing." Leonhart said simply. "I'm in the same guild as Noa-kun."

"Leonhart-kun is one of our top players." Noa informed Mokuba. "He's very good."

"'Our Top Players'-?" Leonhart echoed, confusion followed by a flicker of surprise flashing across his face. "Wait. You're a -Moderator-?!"

"Noa is God." Mokuba deadpanned. Noa laughed weakly in response. "He's the head Game Master."

Leonhart's shock was plain to see. "He... I... WHAT?!" The German gamer gaped like a fish.

Too many surprises in too little of a time, Mokuba supposed. But it was kind of fun to watch.

"I'm somewhat older than I appear." Noa admitted. "And have many years experience managing various Virtual realities. As Ototo said it is... complicated."

Mokuba gave Leonhart a suspicious look. "Does your brother know that you're playing a Kaiba Corporation game?"

"Yes, of course." Leonhart assured him. "I told him it was in order to scope out the opposition. But mostly I play because I enjoy it. ...Please do not tell my brother that last part..." The worried entreaty was said in a rapid hushed whisper.

"I knew his older brother was the CEO of Schroider Corporation before I teamed up with him in the Guild." Noa informed Mokuba quietly, with an earnest expression on his face. "But he's a good player. And he hasn't tried to hack into the computers, harass the other players or anything even remotely illegal. Honestly, I'd recommend him to be hired as a Moderator in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the conflict in interests. He loves to play."

Mokuba nodded. He remembered as much from the KC Grand Prix. Siegfried von Schroider might cheat, but Leonhart was a True Duellist, at least according to Yuugi's Other Self at the time of those Grand Championships.

"It is not -that- much of a conflict in interests." Leonhart admitted ruefully. "My brother will not let me do much for the company as of yet. I am mostly assigned minor duties around the company. Despite the fact that I beat my brother regularly in our unofficial Duel Monsters matches."

Now that was a surprise. Leonhart was at least two years older than Mokuba, and Mokuba had been helping 'Niisama run the company since 'Niisama took it over, about five years ago. The last part was said with a great deal of annoyance, something that sparked Mokuba's curiosity. Not all was fun and games over at Schroider Corporation.

"Still playing a Fairy-tale Deck?" Mokuba questioned with a grin.

"Of course." Leonhart smiled back.

"He's playing 'Jack the Giant Killer' in the game." Noa smirked. Leonhart blushed slightly, even as he smiled proudly and Mokuba realised what part of the problem probably was.

Seigfried was beautiful, in a striking elegant pampered sort of way. If you went for the immaculately styled hair and clothing sort of thing. He was aesthetically pleasing to look at, he knew it and did everything he could to enhance this.

Leonhart on the other hand, probably due to the fact that he had been shoved aside for most of his life in favour of his older brother, had developed a quiet, unassuming gentle charm of his own. It was mostly personality rather than appearance, he was noble in a way that people wrote about in stories but was rarely seen. He probably wasn't even aware that he could be more striking than his brother.

Mokuba was willing to bet a good portion of his stocks in Kaiba Corporation that Seigfried was aware of that as well. Seigfried was attractive, smart and charismatic when he wanted to be. People would give him a second look.

But when Leonhart smiled, people would do more than give him a second look, they would stop and stay by him just to see him smile like that again. Because he meant it with all of his gallant, lionhearted self. And that would last much longer than Seigfried's styled looks.

Unfortunately, that same nobility would probably mean his first loyalty was to his brother, Seigfried. And Seigfried had already proved he was not to be trusted. Especially when it came to Kaiba Corporation and his supposed 'revenge'.

It wasn't 'Niisama's fault that Schroider Corporation's latest developments were always about a year behind Kaiba Corporation's technology. Seigfried may have been a Genius, but 'Niisama was a SUPER Genius.

"Tell you what." Mokuba mused as he realised that he'd been silent for too long and both Noa and Leonhart had started to look nervous. "If you ever decide to switch over and join us on the Dark Side, just let either Noa or myself know. We have some positions available that would fit your talents. More challenging than Moderating, if that's what you'd like."

"I..." Leonhart stammered for a moment, then shook his head. "Thanks, but my place is here. With my brother."

"We have cookies..." Mokuba tempted.

He got two blank stares back. Ah, well. It had been worth a shot.

"Anyway, there's no time limit, consider it a standing offer." Mokuba grinned back. "As long as you don't mind working for someone younger than you. And sometimes it's good to know that you have options when times get tough."

Because Leonhart's attractiveness would probably only grow, while Seigfried's would fade as his personality marked his face. The whole 'Wicked Stepmother' story-line, only with brothers and business corporations instead of in-laws and marriage.

And there were always openings for people who thought quickly on their feet and were loyal as Leonhart was. And if they could earn that loyalty and get him to work for Kaiba Corporation, that be a major point for them against the European gaming companies.

Besides, it might be nice to have someone a bit closer to his and Noa's age working around here...

 

+++  
+++

 

"You've got that look in your eyes again." Jounouchi commented softly, reaching up to tap Yuugi on the nose with a fingertip.

Yuugi startled slightly, looking guiltily at his best friend who was currently using Yuugi a body pillow. Yuugi was reclined on the bed, the pillows and blankets stacked behind his back, Jounouchi's head resting on Yuugi's chest. The rest of his long lanky body was tucked in between Yuugi's slim legs and along the length of the bed. It should have been heavy, but Jounouchi was careful to rest most of his weight off of Yuugi's smaller body.

-It was all for Jounouchi's comfort, of course. The blond had just been kidnapped, thought he was going to die, discovered he wasn't going to die and then found out he'd been kidnapped. Jounouchi had been a bit angry at Kaiba the next day, stomping around Yuugi's room shouting insults for a few hours where Kaiba couldn't see or hear him, but he had eventually calmed down about it and seemed to get over it.

The fact that Jounouchi was using Yuugi as a pillow and getting his ears scratched had -nothing- to do with the fact that Yuugi currently wound so tight he felt like he was going to snap soon.

"What one?" Yuugi questioned, half curious, half dreading. Jounouchi hadn't mentioned if he'd overheard Yuugi's confession and subsequent discussion with Kaiba during their last movie night. He was pretty good at spotting when Jounouchi was feigning sleep and it hadn't felt like it then.

"The distant one." Jounouchi clarified, mischievously flicking at Yuugi's golden fringe before dropping his hand back down. "The one that says that you're not here, you're not in Domino City, much less Japan."

"...Oh." He hadn't realised it was that apparent.

"So where ya at?" Jounouchi cheerfully inquired, pointedly not naming locations or eras. Like Ancient Egypt.

"I don't know." He admitted softly, running his hands through Jounouchi's thick hair. "I just... I feel... trapped."

"Oh. Oops! Sorry!" Jounouchi moved to sit up and unpin Yuugi. Yuugi quickly grabbed his friend and pulled him back down.

"No, no no no no." Yuugi laughed as he wrapped his arms around Jounouchi's shoulders to keep him pinned in place, the blond's warm presence plastered against him. "By the city! The City! Not you."

"... Oh." The blond settled back down.

Yuugi smiled, hands resuming his petting. "It's nothing, it'll pass in a bit." He admitted. "It just happens once in a while."

Jounouchi's forehead scrunched up as he thought this over. "When was the last time ya got out of town?"

"A while."

"How long of a while?" His best friend insisted.

"... Egypt?" The last time he had left Domino City was when he'd said good-bye to his Other Self. He'd had school for another year past that, then taking care of the Game Shop and he'd never ended up leaving again. "No. When I went with Kaiba-kun to see the Duel Academia."

"Too long then." Jounouchi decided decisively. "Where ya wanna go? Just outta town for a while, or outta Japan?"

"Jounouchi!" Yuugi scolded. "I can't afford to go! There's the shop and... who's going to take care of 'Jiichan?"

"'Jiichan." Jounouchi deadpanned. "The old fart can take care of himself, y'know. Has for years before ya showed up."

He ignored the 'old fart' comment. 'Jiichan and Jounouchi loved to throw insults at each other. Swore it was some sort of show of affection. "I know, but..."

"No buts." The blond said firmly. "Outta town or outta the country. Your call, Yuugi."

Yuugi debated momentarily. Part of him wanted to travel as far and as fast as he could, but he also wanted to stay close to home, just in case something happened. Which wasn't all that far fetched really.

"Not too far." He said, smoothing the hair that fell into Jounouchi's face. "Just far enough that I don't have to see the city everywhere I turn."

"Hmm." Jounouchi said thoughtfully, over exaggerating the expression on his face. "You ever been fishing?"

"No?"

"Kajiki has offered to take either of us fishing sometime." Jounouchi gave him a small smile. "We keep in touch, I let him know whenever the Legendary Fisherman helps me win a duel. He's a good guy, more down ta earth than a lot of other Duellists."

"Do it." 'Jiichan's voice said from the doorway, making Yuugi jump slightly.

"'Jiichan!" Yuugi exclaimed as he turned his head towards his grandfather. Yuugi hastily covered Jounouchi's floppy ears with his hands, relieved that Jounouchi's tail was hidden by Yuugi's legs.

Jounouchi snickered, he'd obviously heard 'Jiichan's approach. Probably since around the 'Old Fart' comment. "Yo, Old Man."

"Yo, yourself." 'Jiichan shot back, his voice both cranky and affectionate as he walked into the room.

"But 'Jiichan-"

"As Jounouchi said, 'No Buts'." 'Jiichan scolded. "You did a lot of travelling when your Other Self was with you. And I wouldn't be surprised if you got the same wanderlust I had when I was younger. No buts about it. It's a wide world out there, go explore it. Have fun. Live a little."

"I have people here." Yuugi frowned. "Friends. Family. I can't just leave them..."

"They'll be here when you get back." 'Jiichan assured him. "I hate to break this to you, but we won't disappear because you're not here."

Yuugi laughed weakly. That wasn't funny.

"Go. Spend a few days out on the ocean. It will do you good." 'Jiichan instructed him.

"More like a week. Kajiki tends to go after the farther out deep-sea fish. And don't forget, you've got a Kaiba Corporation phone." Jounouchi reminded him. "If anything happens, you -will- be able to reach us without a problem. And vice versa."

"I..." Yuugi made the fatal error of looking down in to Jounouchi's puppy brown eyes. "... Okay." He sighed.

Both 'Jiichan and Jounouchi grinned. "Great." Jounouchi enthused. "I'll go call Kajiki and set everything up!"

"And I'll help you pack." 'Jiichan rubbed his hands together.

Yuugi rubbed his forehead. The driving urge to -move- was fading, replaced by worry. "I only hope this isn't a mistake."

 

+++  
+++

 

A knock on the door interrupted Seto just as he finished pulling his trousers on. "'Niisama?" Mokuba's hesitant voice called. Seto was slightly surprised, he'd half expected it to be Jounouchi, making some sort of last minute comment before he escorted Mokuba to school.

"Enter." He called, reaching for his shirt. Mokuba opened the door and walked inside. Seto marked the lack of Noa hovering in the background with a bit of mild surprise. It seemed like Mokuba and Noa were attached at the shoulder these days, sometimes almost literally. "Something wrong?" He inquired as he pulled the shirt on over his head.

"I'm not sure." Mokuba admitted, taking a seat on the bed as Seto smoothed the fabric across his torso before tucking it into his pants. "Jounouchi hasn't talked to you about the kidnapping thing, has he?"

"No." Seto admitted. He frowned, fingers fumbling slightly as he buckled his belt over the neatly tucked fabric. He had anticipated some sort of blow up over not telling the blond about being kidnapped, a shout of Seto not trusting him or something, but there had been nothing. Now that Jounouchi was absolved of the misconception about his impending demise, some of the recent odd behaviour had stopped and life had resumed it's normal chaotic flow.

"He hasn't said anything to me or Noa either." Mokuba mused with a slight scowl. He made a face, then fell backwards on the bed. "I was expecting him to, but he hasn't."

Seto thought this over, buckling the straps on his upper arms. "Is this good or bad?" He questioned. Mokuba was generally better at reading people than Seto was, especially the tricky little nuances.

"I'm not sure." Mokuba said slowly. "He could have talked it out with Yuugi. He could have completely forgotten about it by now. Or it could pop up in some sort of unexpected way. Sometimes it's hard tell with him."

He made a noise of assent, sliding the bracers on around his lower arms. Or Jounouchi could have just figured it was part and parcel of the type of life that they lived since Yuugi solved the Sennen Puzzle back in High School. By this point every member of their little group had been kidnapped or body snatched at least once, if not twice. Mokuba was silent, but he was aware of his little brother's eyes narrowing in on the flash of silver peeking out from his left sleeve.

"HEY!" Jounouchi's voice shouted from the hallway. "MOKUBA!!"

"IN HERE!!!" Mokuba shouted back. Seto finished buckling on the bracers and reached for his coat, privately wondering when shouting had become a common means of communication in their household. It was a almost wonder they weren't deaf sometimes.

"Ah, there you are." Jounouchi stuck his head and torso through the doorway, a broad grin on his face as he did so. "Hurry up, we're gonna be late."

"Yeah, yeah." Mokuba grumbled as he sat up, smoothing out his High School uniform. Where exactly had the time gone?

"Oh, yeah. By the way." Jounouchi said, his eyes crinkled shut as he smiled at them. However, there was something about the tone of his voice, as friendly as it was, that made the hairs on the back of Seto's neck twitch. "My two weeks notice finished getting processed yesterday. I quit. Hurry up, Mokuba, the driver's already out front."

With that, the blond disappeared, the door swinging shut behind him and latching itself with a small 'click'.

It took several moments for Seto to finally catch up and process that statement. He glanced over at Mokuba, to find his brother looking very pale as he stared at the door.

"Mokuba?"

Mokuba swallowed, then shook his head as if to clear the shock away from his brain. "Can he -do- that?!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"I'm... not certain." Seto allowed, glancing down at his hands with the vague sense of having been in the middle of something and forgotten what it was. "I would have to re-scrutinise the contract between us to be absolutely sure. But it does take both of us to fire him."

"Yeah, I remember that part." The shock was fading from Mokuba's countenance, to be replaced by righteous anger. "Do it."

"MOKUBAAA!" Jounouchi's voice echoed from somewhere in the building. "LAAAATE!!!"

"In the meantime-"

"-I'm gonna go grill Jounouchi." Mokuba growled as he stood up, the braided length of hair whipping behind him like an irate dragon's tail. "See you later, 'Niisama."

"Have a good day at school, Mokuba." Seto nodded, mostly on autopilot. Mokuba nodded back, striding out of the room. A worried Noa greeted him in the hallway, Mokuba's school bag leaning next to his bedroom door.

Seto glanced down at his empty hands as the door closed again. What had he been doing.... Ah. That was right. Getting dressed to go to work.

He leaned over and picked up his coat from where it had slipped from his hands onto the floor.

 

+++  
+++

 

Well... this was awkward...

Jounouchi recovered from the sudden acceleration that accompanied the driver's take off and swallowed nervously. He'd honestly never seen Mokuba -glower- like that. It was almost a visible aura around the younger Kaiba, a burning aura in the shape of an irate Blue Eyes White Dragon. Granted, not a full-grown Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the slight difference in size really didn't matter when one was trapped in a rapidly moving metal box with one.

"Jou~nou~chi." Mokuba growled.

He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head, body still strumming from the adrenaline rush from his announcement earlier. "Morning, Mokuba. How's it going?"

Jounouchi got a warning snarl in response. He winced, making a mental note to keep all limbs tucked closely to himself lest they get bit off.

"What are you -doing-?" Mokuba snapped. "You -can't- leave."

"Actually..." Jounouchi sighed, rubbing one ear. "... I can." That was part of the point.

"You -can't-." Mokuba repeated, his voice cracking slightly on the last word. "What about your promise to 'Niisama?! You said you wouldn't leave him alone!"

"I haven't forgotten." Jounouchi snapped back. "And I'm not going back on that. But this is something I have to do."

"No, you don't!" Mokuba said roughly. He paused a moment, the hamsters in his head frantically working behind his grey eyes. "This is about the kidnapping isn't it?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "No-"

"You don't have to quit!" Mokuba insisted. "You didn't goof up just because you got kidnapped! It could have happened to anyone!"

Anyone who was a freak with dog ears and a tail, that was. "It doesn't have anything to do with that either!" Jounouchi's brain caught up with him, reminding him. "Well, okay, maybe a little-"

"No!" Mokuba pointed a finger at him. "You're not leaving me because of that!!!"

Jounouchi blinked, suddenly reminded of Mokuba when he'd been little, all wide eyes and a huge mop of hair. Overlaid to the side of the angry petulant teenager, a smaller younger version of Mokuba pleading for Jounouchi not to leave him alone.

Okay, so that hadn't actually happened, but that didn't make it any less true. He sighed again. "Mokuba? Can you just... trust me on this? Please?"

He got a cranky glare in return. "I'm not doing this to hurt you or your brother, I swear it." He said tiredly. It might have been a good idea to think this plan through a little better. "Please... let me do this."

"You're not in any kind of trouble, are you?" Mokuba asked, suddenly concerned. "Being threatened?"

Jounouchi shook his head, seeing where Mokuba was coming from. "No."

"Bribed?"

"No."

"There's an assassin targeting one of us with a gun."

"No."

"Blackmail?"

"No."

"Peer pressure?"

"No."

"Possessed by an angry vengeful spirit?"

"No."

"Godzilla?"

"No."

"Phase of the Moon?"

"No."

"That time of the month?"

"Heck, no."

This continued all the way to school, much to Jounouchi's annoyance and increasingly thin patience.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto kept his face still and impassive as the meeting droned on around him. He'd had some time to think on the drive to Kaiba Corporation and once he'd reached his office, he'd pulled up some files.

Yes, it did require both himself and Mokuba to fire Jounouchi. It also took both of their signatures before his resignation could be processed. Which Jounouchi had managed to get, on the proper forms even. Proper forms which were folded and slightly worn, as if they'd been resting in the back pocket of someone's tight jeans for a while.

A little digging had found some changes to Jounouchi's bank accounts, forms filled out for direct deposit to start the day after his last day working for him.

There had also been some changes to Noa's bank accounts, something that Seto found -very- interesting.

And now he was stuck in this meeting for the next several hours, musing over the information he had found. The meeting only required a small portion of his attention anyway.

The communicator on his collar beeped. He triggered it. "Kaiba."

"It's not about the kidnapping." Jounouchi's irritated voice growled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." The communicator triggered off.

He glanced up and realised that the entire room was silent, everyone staring at him. Of course, none of them knew what kidnapping was being talked about.

Seto gave the people sitting around the table a tight toothy smile. "Pardon the interruption." He purred, leaving them to wonder. "Please, continue."

The meeting did and Seto noticed with some amusement that the amount of mindless blathering dropped significantly.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Yuugi's not home." Mokuba growled, slamming the phone receiver down on the cradle. "His Grandfather says he left to go fishing a few days ago and won't be back for a few more. Fishing!"

"He's got his mobile with him, doesn't he?" Noa reminded him quietly.

"Yeah, but he's currently not answering." Mokuba frowned, glaring at the phone. "Probably left it somewhere on the boat cause he didn't want to accidentally drop it in the salt water."

Noa made a thoughtful sound. "Did you leave a message?"

"No." Mokuba sighed, plopping back in his chair. "He wouldn't leave town if something was seriously wrong." He did not vocalise the possibility that Jounouchi might have tricked Yuugi into going. He'd checked the contract and the resignation form and had -not- been amused to discover his own signature on it. He even remembered signing it and thinking it was a bit funny looking, unlike the usual crisp forms.

It was vaguely amusing, in a distant black humoured sort of way. Before the blond had started working Kaiba Corporation, words like 'tact', 'secrecy' or 'subterfuge' hadn't even been in Jounouchi's vocabulary, much less used as character traits. Now he was managing to manipulate -them-.

The student had surpassed his masters. The thought was not a reassuring one.

He blew a breath of air out from between his lips, making a rude sound. "I'm not going to get any work done today." Mokuba muttered, running a hand over his hair, fingers getting tangled up in the braid. He couldn't concentrate on paperwork or programming or designing at the moment, his mind was too busy buzzing over what was going on at the moment.

"Sorry." Noa looked guilty.

"Not your fault." Mokuba waved it off, rising out of the chair and stretching his arms above his head. He reached into a desk drawer and rummaged around until he found his small palmtop computer, a Swiss Army knife and a small hand-held flashlight, tucking all of them into various pockets. "C'mon, let's go."

Noa half-rose from his chair, head tilted to the side in confusion. "Go where?"

"I found a room a while back that was on an old map from before 'Niisama took over the company that's not on any of our current ones." Mokuba pulled a print out of his back pocket and showed it to Noa. "May as well check it out." It got him out of his lab for a bit and the exploration would probably do him some good. And if nothing else, they could correct the maps.

His green-haired other brother looked slightly nervous, his body turning slightly translucent as he hovered. "Shouldn't we call Jounouchi go to with us?" Noa fidgeted. "Or maybe one of the other guards?"

"The other guards won't wanna go and Jounouchi's leaving." Mokuba frowned. "We don't need him. The bastard can rot in hell for all I care."

Okay, maybe not rot in -hell-, but go someplace EXTREMELY uncomfortable for a while. A long while. A long painful while. Hah.

Noa made a distressed sound, still hovering around his chair. "Noa?" Mokuba inquired. "Something wrong?"

"I'm... not sure," Noa confided, looking conflicted as he held the paper. "It... I don't think this is a good idea."

Okay, now that was interesting. "Why not?"

Noa made that distressed sound again. "I don't know," He muttered, handing the map back to Mokuba. "Just... a vague feeling."

Mokuba thought it over as he put the paper in his back pocket. One one hand, he -really- didn't want to stay in the labs. On the other hand, Noa had been alive back when those rooms had been used for military research. He could be not-quite remembering something from back then. While Noa could remember every nano-second of consciousness if he so chose to now, his formerly human mind was a bit more selective about what it retained.

"We won't know what's bothering you until we go." He decided. "So let's go."

Noa grimaced but followed Mokuba, hovering behind him without touching, like he was ready to run at a moment's notice. Which was kind of silly, Noa's body was either Solid Vision or Solid System, depending on where they went. It wasn't like anything could actually physically -hurt- him.

They passed by a few people in the hall and nodded absentmindedly at them, getting a few bows in return. Noa bowed back, people used to his presence now, even if he wasn't completely solid at the moment. Mokuba occasionally wondered about Noa's manners, if it was something that he had learned when he was younger, or something he was practising now to keep him humble, because of what happened in the Virtual World.

He inserted his card into the slot in the elevator once the doors closed, then pressed some buttons to go to the old secret military labs. Toys weren't nearly as big as tanks or planes, so they didn't need all the room they still had. It was currently a big empty waste of space and eventually they'd get around to cleaning it out and using them, but not anytime soon. There were other projects that took priority.

Noa fidgeted slightly as the elevator went sideways, like Jounouchi did when the elevator started going in unpredictable directions. It would have been endearing some other time, but not currently. "You okay?" He questioned.

"I'm... not sure." Noa admitted as he held his head, his palm pressing against the temple. "Pain? I don't know. It kind of feels like someone's walking over my grave or something..."

Not likely. The tombstones everyone in Domino City were familiar with were fakes, because of the threat of vandalism. 'Niisama, Mokuba and Isono were the only ones who knew where Gozaburou and his son were actually buried. And 'Niisama had paid a lot of money to ensure that those graves would never bother him again.

"Hmmm." He squeezed Noa's hand. Well, they'd find out soon enough. The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a dark hallway, illuminated only by the elevator's light.

"There's no power." Noa commented, sticking an arm out. The limb vanished as soon as it left the confines of the elevator. He pulled the arm back, rubbing his hands lightly as if he'd just lost sensation in it.

Mokuba checked the Solid Vision projector on his arm. "I've got a full charge. Think you'll be okay?"

"Yeah." Noa nodded, stepping closer to Mokuba. Mokuba nodded, silently grateful that he wasn't doing this on his own. He -could- of course, but it was better with a friend. He grasped where Noa's hand would be, smiling slightly as Noa held his hand back. There was no actual sensation of something being there other than a faint tingle, but it was enough to know that Noa was there.

Mokuba turned on his small flashlight and together they stepped out of the elevator into the darkness. It was eerily silent, his footsteps muffled by the dust on the ground. It was like being in the middle of a ghost story, complete with his own friendly ghost next to him. Now all they needed were either bats or a dead body. "Okay," He said with more bravado than he felt. "If I was a secret hidden room, where would I be?"

"I thought you had a map." Noa questioned.

"I do." Mokuba grinned, teasing his other-brother. "But this way's more fun."

He got an eye-roll in return. "This way." Noa directed with long-suffering patience. Mokuba snickered, placidly following along. It was so much fun to tease Noa sometimes.

They walked in silence for a while, Noa consulting a map that had appeared in his hand, Mokuba idly shining the light here and there and marvelling at the complete and utter lack of colour and individuality in the building. When they got around to cleaning this place up, he was going to insist on it being painted orange, fuchsia and lime-green. Striped. With pink highlights, just to liven things up.

Noa shivered next to him and he paused. "Noa?"

"Sorry." Noa muttered, looking absolutely terrified. If he was a cat, his ears would be flattened against his skull, tail puffed up three times its normal size.

Mokuba began to have second thoughts, Noa was usually the unflappable one. "You want to go back?" He offered. Noa shook his head.

"No." Noa swallowed then squared his jaw. "It just... feels somewhat familiar."

"You've been here before?"

"I'm... I don't think so." Noa gave him a half-shrug and a wan smile. "Won't know until we get there, right?"

"Right." Mokuba nodded and they pressed forward. Noa got tenser the farther down the grey corridor they got, but had a determined look on his face, like he refused to be afraid of ghosts. They actually didn't have far to go before they reached their location.

"... I don't believe it." Mokuba muttered in disgust, aiming his light at a door. "Some hidden room this is. It's even labelled. What the heck is a 'Lazarus Project' anyway?"

Noa shrugged. "Not a clue."

Mokuba glanced at his nervous other-brother. "You want to go in?"

"We're here." Noa said tensely. "We may as well finish our objective."

"Right." Mokuba nodded, reaching for the knob. It refused to move under his hand. "... and it's locked. Of course. Hang on just a moment." He let go of Noa's hand, holding the light in his teeth and pulled out his pocket knife out, opening a panel to the side of the door and pulling some wires out. He attached them to the small hand-held computer and a few quick decryption codes later, they were in. The codes from before they took over Kaiba Corporation were so easy to figure out.

"Open Says Me." Mokuba said smugly as the door opened under his hand. The gears protested slightly from their long disuse, but it moved easily enough. Mokuba took Noa's hand again as they stepped into the dark cavernous room.

It was some sort of labratory. The flashlight illuminated a large flat-screen that dominated one wall, then some sort of mechanical sphere with huge thick cords running out of it. The cords ran to a large machine that held a large glass tube, large enough to hold a person.

As he stepped closer, he realised that he wasn't far wrong. There was someone inside of the tube, slumped against the side of it, knees bent under them. An oxygen mask covered most of the face, hiding the features. He took a few steps closer, trying to get a better look and recoiled.

It was a body. It was at least partially mummified, the limbs so thin he could nearly see the detail of the bones. Long strands of pale dusty green hair covered the grey skin like a shroud, obscuring the body and its gender. It was hard to tell how tall the person was, much less the age. The person was small, smaller than Mokuba anyway, but bigger than a child.

There was a large gaping crack in the bottom of the tube as well, like a small fracture had suddenly expanded to a large one. The pressurised liquid solution the person had been suspended with had spilt itself all over the floor of the room, discolouring and darkening the places it had touched, like a blood stain. Mokuba vaguely hoped the person hadn't been aware when that happened.

"Oh." Noa said softly, glancing between the tube and the large screen with wide unsettled eyes. "I remember this place now. That's my body."

Mokuba triggered his communicator pin without even thinking about it. "JOUNOUCHIIIEEE~!!!! 'NIISAMAAAA~!!!!"

 

+++  
+++

 

The heart of Kaiba Corporation, the Central Ops, was a weird place to visit.

That didn't stop Jounouchi from checking in there at least once or twice a day.

First off, there was Isono. Who, glasses and moustache aside, was a pretty nice guy. Even if he did appear to practically live there. Any time of day or night Jounouchi had stopped by, Isono was there. Jounouchi often wondered if Isono slept on a cot in a side room or something.

Then, there were the girls. All fifty or so of them, with their given names ending in '-ko'. And all looking completely identical, except for variations in hair colour.

Which really wasn't much of a help to Jounouchi, except for the fact they all used differently scented shampoos and stuff, so he could tell them apart if he got close to them. And if he listened really hard to catch the slight differences in voices.

Jounouchi occasionally wondered if either Gozaburou or Kaiba hadn't worked with cloning in the past. Either that or the person in charge of hiring had a favourite 'type'. He was slightly afraid to ask, seeing how there were identical girls in the American Kaiba Corporation headquarters, with a slightly different hairstyle and all the names ending with 'e' sounds.

One of the girls --Junko, who smelt like violets-- grinned up at him. "How's Kaiba-sama doing today?" She asked, unfazed by his random appearance in the most hallow of grounds. He usually wandered in here roughly about this time every day anyway, doing his rounds walking about Kaiba Corporation while Kaiba did paperwork and the younger Kaiba did homework or worked in their labs.

"About a six." He admitted. A few girls grimaced. It didn't matter how far down the corporate ladder you were, if the boss wasn't happy, you felt it on all levels.

Somebody, long before Jounouchi had shown up, had started a 'Kaiba Seto Reaction Scale'. While most scales ran from one to ten, this one ran one to eight stars. Eight stars meaning a Blue Eyes White Dragon was in play and someone was about to get roasted.

Usually Kaiba hung around three to four stars. Once, on a really good day, Kaiba had been a two. It would probably take an act of sex or god --or maybe both-- for Kaiba to be mellow enough to rank one star. Which probably wasn't going to happen any time soon. And if it ever did happen, Jounouchi was going to be first in line to check for drugs and other mind-altering substances. Kaiba just wasn't Kaiba without his attitude and snark.

Of course, he wasn't going to mention to the girls that today it was his fault that 'Ol Blue Eyes was all riled up. Not if he wanted to live, thank you very much. Identical looking the girls may have been, but they all had different talents. The last thing he wanted was them combining their talents and the martial art black-belts helping the knitting group to shove their knitting needles into very uncomfortable places in his body, while the gardening, baking and cooking groups plotted the best way to poison him for making their life hell with the boss.

He was about to make a light-hearted joke about it when his communicator warbled. "JOUNOUCHIIIEEE~!!!!" Mokuba's voice, sounding strangely young and scared wailed. "'NIISAMAAAA~!!!!"

The heart of Kaiba Corporation, the Central Ops, paused for a moment as all the girls glanced in the direction of the scream.

Just for a moment though, the girls were all professionals and motion smoothly resumed. Jounouchi turned and glanced at Isono, who hadn't paused, but turned and checked the computers for Mokuba's location. The older man rattled off a series of numbers to security, then Jounouchi was off and running. Literally. Isono's calm voice in his ear directed him which way to go.

The headset he wore wasn't -just- for camouflage after all.

Jounouchi tried the communicator as he ran and got nothing but heavy breathing on the other line, the youngest Kaiba at the point of hyperventilating. He shouted for Noa instead and got no response back, which disturbed him more so than Mokuba's shout.

Noa wasn't -physical- like Mokuba was. Even if something disturbed Mokuba that badly, it shouldn't have affected Noa, who could retreat into the safety of the Kaiba Corporation computers. Unless it had been a mental shock to both of them, instead of a physical blow.

He assured them that he was on his way and skidded into an elevator whose doors opened for him at his approach. Kaiba was inside, looking slightly ruffled as he pressed the buttons for the elevator doors to close as Jounouchi dived in.

Jounouchi mentally upgraded Kaiba's Reaction Scale to Eight Stars. Daddy Blue Eyes was on the warpath, looking for what had disturbed his Baby Dragon. And he wasn't going to be happy until what ever it was had been killed, stuffed and mounted on his wall to taunt at later luxury. The ride through the maze of Kaiba Corporation's elevator system was a quiet and tense one, both of them focused on getting to Mokuba as quickly as possible.

Isono's voice in his ear warbled and sporadically cut out as they reached the lower, more distant levels. He did catch that power was out where they were and Isono was attempting to restore it.

"Jounouchi." Kaiba said tersely as they looked around the dark corridors. It was a maze down here.

"On it." He said calmly, activating the Solid Vision system on his arm, usually designed for stabilising Noa's form, but conveniently doubled as a flashlight in a pinch. The corridors were bare, but surprisingly free of dust, which meant that footprints were hard to distinguish.

Fortunately, Mokuba was a teenage boy. And as such, he smelt rather strongly of one. Right down to the stinky socks with the holes in them. And there weren't a lot of other scents down here to confuse the issue. "This way." He announced, sniffing the air, then following the faint scent. They ran through the twists and turns, finally spotting a light in the distance.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted, a world of concern, anger and comfort in it. Mokuba turned to face them as they skidded into the room, his face pale and haunted like he had just seen a ghost. Next to him, Noa -looked- like a ghost.

"Mokuba?" Kaiba said again, his voice softer this time as he came to a stop next to his brother, not quite touching. Jounouchi stood next to Noa, wondering what could have spooked the dead boy so much.

Mokuba pointed, the flashlight both illuminating and casting shadows on a large glass tube. Then the whine of electricity started up, the lights flickering a few times before turning on.

"I'm dead." Noa said quietly as they saw clearly the body that lay there. Jounouchi didn't think, he just wrapped his arms around both Noa and Mokuba, pulling them towards him. His arm passed through Noa, but Noa didn't seem to care, wrapping his arm back around Jounouchi's shoulders. Mokuba wrapped his arms around Jounouchi's waist, hands latching on to the material in the back as he hid his face against Jounouchi and -shook-.

Kaiba glanced at them, hands flexing as if he wanted to be the one holding Mokuba. Jounouchi shot him a questioning glance and Kaiba shook his head, silently conveying for him to keep holding on. Jounouchi nodded, resting his head against Mokuba's.

Mokuba used to go towards his brother for comfort. That had been changing since before Jounouchi had arrived, Mokuba trying hard to stand on his own two feet and not rely on Kaiba as much. Kaiba was strong, so therefore he was hard to show weakness to. Jounouchi was strong too, strong enough to be a protector, but he was 'weaker' than Kaiba, so it was okay for Mokuba to show weakness in front of Jounouchi where it wasn't okay to show in front of his brother.

Just like Kaiba hated showing weakness in front of Mokuba, for fear that he would no longer be strong in his brother's eyes. Jounouchi understood it on some levels, --he would bare his stomach to Yuugi, but not to Kaiba-- but mostly it seemed to be a tweaked out Kaiba brothers sort of thing.

His ears twitched as he heard a different elevator's doors open and the steps of booted feet. "Security is here." He announced quietly. Kaiba grunted, silently looking around the room with a cold, detached look on his face.

Mokuba took a deep shuddering breath before pressing his hands against Jounouchi and pushing away. "You're leaving." He said, almost accusatory as he stepped away from Jounouchi. The younger Kaiba turned and stood next to his brother, their backs straight and angry as they looked around.

"It's okay." Noa murmured as Jounouchi's hand dropped. Jounouchi nodded, realising that Noa had situated himself so that he was sitting in the crook of Jounouchi's arm, arms wrapped around Jounouchi's neck, like a little kid would when in need of comfort. Of course, if you weren't needing a bit of contact after finding your own dead body, something was seriously wrong.

Jounouchi silently wished Yuugi was here, he was much better at this life-after-death existential stuff than he was.

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto had seen this room before. Once, when trapped in the Virtual World under Noa's control, Gozaburou's biological son taunting him with his past.

He hadn't liked the room much at the time. Time and memories had done nothing to to improve upon it. The Virtual World had mercifully been devoid of both scent and the sheer presence of the room, which stunk of anger, despair and things not done where it could be seen in the light.

It was, to be blunt, an ugly room. In an ugly wing of an ugly building. He started going over mental notes to either have the entire building torn down or converted into something else entirely as soon as possible. Probably torn down.

Noa was not doing any taunting now. No, he was curled around Jounouchi, looking younger than he had before he died. Although Seto doubted that Noa would have ever let anyone carry him like that when he had been alive at that age.

"Are you all right?" He asked Mokuba quietly as his brother came to stand next to him.

"Yes, 'Niisama." Mokuba said impassively. Seto clenched his hand, fingernails digging into his palms, briefly regretting that he was not as openly expressive with his affections as Jounouchi was. He did not wish for Mokuba to be as... controlled as he was. Especially when there was no need for it.

He glanced over at Mokuba and wondered what would happen if he did reach out and hug his brother, like Jounouchi had done. Would Mokuba push him away? Would it break what control Mokuba had over his emotions currently?

Mokuba saw his look gave him a weak smile, reaching out and wrapping his hand around Seto's, giving it a brief squeeze. Seto nodded back, relaxing slightly. Mokuba was not entirely fine, but he was dealing.

Security marched in and froze, many eyes scanning the room for danger. "This room isn't on any of our current maps." Mokuba spoke up, catching their attention. "Which is why Noa and I came to investigate it. We found a body. We haven't touched anything other than the doors."

"Treat it as a crime scene." Seto added. "Contact the local police and report the body. I want to know why there is a corpse in my building and how long it has been there."

"Yessir!" The men barked, the Head of Security immediately issuing orders. The room turned into an organised scramble.

Seto did not fail to notice the many glances between the shrivelled corpse and Noa, who was still wrapped around Jounouchi like a sorrowful wraith. A few of the more superstitious of the lot made evil-warding gestures and a few crossed themselves. He sighed, making a mental note to call an exorcist, just to put people's minds at ease.

Publicity on this was going to be hell.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi stared up at the ceiling of the entertainment room and wished he could fall asleep. It had been a busy day, an eventful day and now his brain would just not shut off.

It did not help that he had this strange irrational fear that Noa's body was going to stagger through the door, demanding that Noa merge back with it so that they could be whole again. Jounouchi made a mental note to stay -far- away from zombie movies for a while. A long while.

Word had travelled fast that there was a body in the basement of Kaiba Corporation, where no one went anymore. Then word had leaked that the body was Kaiba Noa, Gozaburou's deceased son. Questions and theories were flying fast and rampant about who was buried in Kaiba Noa's grave. Which, in all honesty, both Kaiba and Mokuba wanted to know as well, because as far as the Kaiba brothers knew, Noa was buried in Noa's grave.

Noa had been quiet all day, saying little and hanging on to people whenever he had the chance, like he was afraid that either he or they would disappear if he didn't. He thought he'd been buried too.

He didn't appear to be having that great of a night either. Noa hovered above them, eyes open and staring at nothing in particular. Mokuba was storing softly next to Jounouchi, sandwiched in-between him and Kaiba. Kaiba was out like a light, lines of tension shadowing his eyes. Jounouchi felt kind of bad for him, this had turned out to be a rotten day. The next time Jounouchi decided to do something big in his life, he was checking his fortune first.

Noa floated by and Jounouchi lazily raised his hand and watched as Noa passed through it. Jounouchi and Kaiba hadn't really had a chance to talk, his quitting taking a back burner to taking care of Mokuba and Noa. It had pretty much been understood without anyone commenting that there would be nightmares tonight and Mokuba would probably be crawling into bed with them. But Kaiba's bedroom didn't have any projectors installed, that would have left Noa alone.

And solitude was the last thing Noa wanted or appeared to need right now. His mind was obviously too full as it was. So here they were, camped out in the entertainment room like it was a Movie Night, minus Yuugi.

"Hey, Noa." Jounouchi said softly.

The ghost-boy did a lazy roll in the air, turning to look at him. He was slightly transparent in the light, not having the will or urge to make himself any more solid than he obviously felt. "Hmmm?"

Jounouchi supposed he could have asked Noa about some of the heavier thoughts that were being passed around their small group: What they were going to say to the media about the fact that Gozaburou's son being both dead and alive, the debate that was starting up in the news about just how 'real' or 'human' Noa was now and what other unpleasant surprises Gozaburou had left for them.

"Do you think we should tell them?" He asked instead, worrying over his own problem.

Noa did a turn, rotating so that he was sitting. "In lieu of today's events?" He mused, catching Jounouchi's train of thought and following it.

Jounouchi nodded. "Mokuba especially. I'm not... not... I don't want to hurt him. Them." One of the major points of this was to -not- hurt them. Either of them.

"I think it may be a bit late for that." Noa said with a faint smile, not entirely unsympathetic. Jounouchi chuckled weakly back. Okay, so maybe he hadn't exactly phrased it in the best of ways, but he'd been nervous and pretty much running on jittery adrenaline at the time. Forget coffee, just tell your rather over-protective employers that you were leaving to wake you up and get you moving quickly in the morning...

"But-" Noa added thoughtfully. "It really is your choice. And if you tell them, it won't be."

"That's true." Jounouchi mused. That was the other part of this, Jounouchi making some decisions in his life instead of just following the flow. It was a bit of a gamble, but it was his life and his choices to make.

"Get some sleep, Jounouchi." Noa sighed, reaching down and trailing his hand across Jounouchi's face, solidifying his fingertips just enough to move some of the hair out of Jounouchi's eyes. "Our problems will still be waiting for us in the morning."

"Thanks, Noa." Jounouchi snarked. "You really know how to cheer a guy up."

"You're welcome." Noa smiled back angelically, floating over above Mokuba again. His eyes drooped to half-mast, but he didn't fall entirely asleep. But then he didn't have to rely on his body getting sleep for energy the next day.

Jounouchi sighed, letting his body go lax. He wouldn't tell them now, Noa was right about that, it was his choice. If he could survive the next two weeks, he'd count it as a baseline for 'the worst' and hope that things got better from there. Because if this worked out right, things could get a hell of a lot better than they were currently.

But in the meantime, he should at least half-doze for a bit while he waited for the nightmares to start up....

 

+++  
+++

 

"So..." Leonhart looked uncomfortable as his webcam window popped up in Noa's screen. "... somehow a 'Birthday' card didn't seem to fit the situation. Neither did a 'Congratulations' card. I tried to find a Death Day card, but somehow no one I asked had heard of one, much less knew anyone who had made one. It seemed rather tacky to send a 'Condolences' card to the person who had died, and the same with 'Best Wishes' or 'Get Well Soon'. I did debate on a 'Good News, it's a Boy' card, but in the end I simply could not find a card that fit the situation. And as such I'm afraid I really don't know what to say."

"Well, thank you for trying." Noa said sincerely as soon as the pink-haired boy paused for breath. "I appreciate the effort."

"Not a problem." Leonhart waved it off. "How are you doing?"

Noa shrugged. "Still dead."

"Oh."

"You-" Mokuba said, from his postion draped over the back of Noa's chair. "-Are the first person to ask that question of Noa."

"That's not true." Noa frowned. "Jounouchi asks me frequently."

"That bastard doesn't count." Mokuba informed him bluntly.

Noa sighed, this was beginning to become an old argument between them that they were both already weary of. Noa had been telling Mokuba that 'quitting' wasn't the same as 'leaving', but Noa was also firmly on Jounouchi's side, so therefore Mokuba wasn't believing a word of it.

"Hey." Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know anyway? We never told you."

"Oh, let's see." Leonhart raised an eyebrow back. "Kaiba Mokuba's 'other brother', rumours about the deceased Kaiba Noa on the news, green hair... It wasn't terribly difficult to put together."

Noa snickered. Mokuba lazily swatted at him since he couldn't reach Leonhart from the other side of the world. "If it's any consolation," Leonhart added with a faint grin. "I do not foresee this affecting or terminating our friendship, unless you want it to. You are the only Noa-kun I've ever known, and you've been dead the entire time."

"Actually." Noa smiled faintly, slumping slightly in his seat. "That's a relief to hear. Thank you, Leonhart-kun."

"'Niisama's hiring an exorcist for after the investigators finish examining the room." Mokuba explained as Leonhart and Noa smiled at each other. "Most everyone else has been afraid to come near either of us, incase they end up cursed by an evil spirit."

The kids at school were giving him wide berth, saying he was haunted by a Yurei, a ghost of the dead. 'Mokuba no Akuma', Mokuba's a Demon they said in hushed whispers when they thought he wasn't listening. He'd heard a few people refer to Noa as a 'Babasare', a ghost that preyed on children and their fears, which really made Mokuba wonder just how old people thought he was.

A lot of charms and ofuda were popping up around Kaiba Corporation in weird places too. And the carpet was often crunchy from salt that seemed to be sprinkled everywhere to prevent bad luck. He was slightly grateful that Setsuban had already passed in early February, the last thing he needed was people throwing dried beans at him to chase evil spirits away.

He kind of wished Yuugi was here too, maybe the spiky-haired duellist could convince people that Noa was a Zashiki Warashi, a good protective spirit. That might help a bit.

"Are you an evil spirit?" Leonhart asked seriously.

"Not anymore." Noa deadpanned.

Leonhart nodded gravely. "Oh, good."

Mokuba smacked his forehead with a hand. Great. It was the Leonhart-and-Noa Show. It was nice that Noa had a friend of his own, but sometimes those two could be seriously -weird-.

Of course, the really sad part was that Noa wasn't lying...

"How's your brother?" Mokuba asked, changing the subject.

"He's... gloating a bit, since your stocks took a dive." Leonhart grimaced. "Sorry. Other than that, things are doing well."

"Still not letting you take more responsibility?" Noa said sympathetically.

Leonhart shook his head. "What about you?" He asked, looking towards Mokuba. "Are things going well with you? You're usually working off screen."

"I'm barred from the computers until the results of the investigation come out." Mokuba grumbled. "Cause of the possibility of me hacking into the police computers and tampering with the data to protect Kaiba Corporation."

"Could you?" Leonhart asked, eyebrows rising.

"Of course." Mokuba scoffed. "But if I did it, they wouldn't know about it. 'Niisama's the one who's got me locked out so that we have plausible deniability incase someone else thinks of it." Stupid 'Niisama. Sometimes he was so annoying.

"And I've currently only got access to Kaiba Corporation's Gaming systems." Noa shrugged. Noa had his games and his Solid System, not being able to access the main core or external networks, --like the internet-- didn't appear to bother him too much. He was just happy to still be -alive-.

"Any news from the police?" Leonhart questioned. "Surely they don't believe that either of you did it, regardless of what the tabloids might say."

Noa and Mokuba exchanged looks. Mokuba shrugged. "'Niisama's gonna release the news later this afternoon, but the autopsy has been finished. Teenage male, approximately age fifteen, severely atrophied. Death occurred about five and a half years ago from major organ failure. Most likely due to the suspending fluids in the container being drained away and the removal of the majority of the life support devices."

"Ototo and Seto met me for the first time shortly before they met you." Noa explained. "Closer to four years than five. They didn't know about my existence before that. I knew about Fa.... Gozaburou's adoption of Seto before my death, about ten years ago."

Rumour's of Noa's death had been greatly exaggerated, it appeared. He -had- been hit by a car and suffered a fatal injury, leading to coma. Gozaburou had uploaded Noa's mind into the computer while he'd been in coma, then left the body on life-support in the tube, either to attempt to restore or clone him at a later date. The body had grown for several years before the life support had been suddenly removed and it finally died.

What Noa wasn't saying was that Gozaburou had uploaded his own brain from his dying body into the Virtual World about five and a half years ago, when 'Niisama had taken over the corporation. Which he had most likely done in the same room that Noa's body had been preserved in.

The hole in Noa's tube hadn't been because of faulty materials. Someone had cracked the pressurised material, resulting in the liquid bursting out the side, dropping Noa's body and disconnecting it from the life support. It would take a lot of strength and effort to crack that material.

Like if someone had hit it with a chair, in a fit of rage.

It was terribly circumstantial, of course, that Kaiba Noa's body had finally died about the same time that Kaiba Gozaburou did, just as the substitute for Gozaburou's biological son managed to surpass the business mogul.

"Wait... wait..." Leonhart shook his head. "You died ten years ago and five years ago? Both?"

"It is rather confusing, isn't it?" Noa smiled sympathetically. "I was ten when I was hit by a car, which was when Gozaburou turned me Virtual. I even had a funeral. But my body continued to grow inside the tube, despite the fact that my mind was gone. -That- died five years ago and just got discovered."

Mokuba leaned a hand down and absently trailed his fingers through Noa's short hair, just to let him know he was there. Noa leaned his head back to smile at him. "But I still think of it that I died ten years ago. That's how long I've been Virtual anyway."

"But if you died ten years ago at age ten, shouldn't you look twenty?" Leonhart tilted his head to the side in confusion.

Mokuba snickered. "'Niisama and Noa look a -lot- alike." Like twins, only with different coloured hair.

"I was made Virtual ten years ago. But it was destroyed six years later. Ototo brought me back just over a year ago, so it's minus a few years." Noa shrugged, then laughed nervously. "And.. to be honest, I'd prefer to age alongside Ototo."

"Noa!" Mokuba scolded, fleeing his face heat up in embarrassment. When Noa said it like that, it made it sound like they were a married couple growing old together or something.

"What?" Noa grinned broadly back. "It's true."

Leonhart chuckled as Mokuba grumbled. Stupid Noa.

"One last question for now." Leonhart held up a hand. "And then we'll let the subject drop. You said you had a funeral... who's in your grave?"

Amusement faded, replaced by grim seriousness. "We don't know." Noa said gravely. But they intended to find out.

"Oh." Leonhart nervously scratched his cheek with a finger. "Y'know... I don't think they make a card for that either...."

 

+++  
+++

 

And in the middle of this mess, Seto had a Parent-Teacher Conference.

Or at least, a Guardian-Teacher Conference.

On the off chance of possibly being able to avoid what was most likely going to be yet another very dull meeting, he'd inquired if Jounouchi, --as one of Mokuba's guardians, abet not a completely legal guardians-- wanted to come along. The blond had grinned ferally and waved it off, saying he had other things to do.

As the blond had been wearing the blue-and-white 'Dragons' baseball shirt over a black shirt that proclaimed 'SECURITY' and the Louisville Slugger over one shoulder, Seto had a pretty fair hunch as to what the blond was going to be doing.

At least this time he was clearly displayed as part of the Security force so that when he caught what ever reporters were attempting to sneak around, they couldn't claim that they'd been jumped by some random nut-job again. Although the claims that Jounouchi had actually -used- the baseball bat were completely fabricated. For one thing, bats left bruises, which the reporters somehow failed to have.

He stifled a sigh as he walked into the classroom, two security guards taking up position outside the door. Yet another reason he would have preferred the blond company on this excursion, nothing screamed 'someone important is here' faster than two stiff-faced men in black suits standing outside a door.

Mokuba's homeroom teacher was a pleasant looking woman with glasses and brown chin-length hair whom Seto knew from Mokuba's occasional grumbling to be a good teacher but quite strict when necessary. The 'quite strict' generally fell into play when Mokuba was caught working in class on something other than school work.

"Kaiba-san." She said, rising from her chair, bowing and motioning for him to sit down. He belatedly remembered that this teacher was 'Ann-sensei' and nodded back, taking his seat. Ann-sensei cleared her throat and sat down, looking nervous for a minute as she shuffled papers before squaring her jaw.

"Mokuba-kun is an excellent student. He's very intelligent, one of the smartest children in the class, although I think his test scores could be higher." She said, handing him a sheet of paper that showed Mokuba's scores throughout the year. Mokuba was always in the top three, occasionally the top score, but not that often. Seto made a quick mental comparison of the times, realising that Mokuba's occasional bouts of moody seclusion tended to correspond with getting the top score in class.

"But..." She looked slightly uncomfortable. "It's not Mokuba-kun's grades I'm worried about so much as his social skills. He's a bright teenager, friendly when approached, but he doesn't seem to connect to any of the other students. The only one he talks to on a regular basis is Satoshi-kun. And that's mostly to either play Capsule Monsters or fight. Although lately it's mostly been verbal sparring instead of fist fights."

Seto looked at her blankly. He failed to see how this was a problem.

Ann-sensei sighed at him. "The only people he mentions as friends are his bodyguard, his bodyguard's best friend and an invisible friend at Kaiba Corporation. I don't care how complex the AI is, this 'Noa' is no substitute for...."

She trailed off. "Wait.... Noa? As in Kaiba Noa? The one..."

"The AI of the deceased biological son of Kaiba Gozaburou." Seto deadpanned. "The one that has been in the news lately. He and Mokuba have been friends since they first met five years ago."

"... Oh." Ann-sensei paused a moment, then cleared her throat. "Regardless, I believe that Mokuba-kun would benefit from some social interaction with people closer to his own age, instead of several years older than him. Or deceased."

Seto sighed. She meant well, really she did. But aside from the gang that Mokuba had run in elementary school, Mokuba had never had any close friends his age. It wasn't feasible, most children who attempted to befriend Mokuba were generally doing to for monetary gain. Either to mooch off of Mokuba, gain business connections for their parents or give information to tabloids 'About the Secret Life of the Youngest Kaiba'. Out of the remaining children his age, most of them didn't have the mental capacity to keep up with him, nor the similar interests.

And then there were was the constant threat that being the heir to a multi-billion dollar company had, such as the 'batshit loony group', --as Jounouchi referred to them-- that attempted to kidnap Mokuba every Thursday. Since they were generally low level thieves interested in stealing new Kaiba Corporation technology rather than any physical harm, they weren't classified as a major threat, although it was of much idle speculation as to why they did not at least try to attempt to change their day of attack.

"Is that all?" He asked politely, folding up the paper she had given him and putting it in his coat pocket.

"Yes." She said. He rose to his feet and she quickly followed. "Erm. You're not going to cut funding to the school because of what I told you, are you?" Ann-sensei asked hesitantly. This had obviously been a problem that weighed on her mind.

"No." He said bluntly. "How are children supposed to learn how to duel if they do not understand basic reading or arithmetic?"

She let out a small sigh of relief, shoulders slumping slightly. She had probably been told by her co-workers and superiors to give him a glowing review about Mokuba instead of an honest one for fear of incurring his wrath. Idiots. Lies would anger him, not the truth.

"In fact..." He smiled, the kind of expression that he had heard Jounouchi refer in the past as 'he was about to feed some idiot to his dragons' and her relief quickly turned into an expression of muted alarm. "... I think it's about time the Domino School System got a technological upgrade."

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi sighed, resting his head against the drawers of Kaiba's desk as he sat beside Ol' Blue Eyes on the floor. He really could use a nap, but at the moment he was slightly afraid that if climbed into his favourite napping place, under the desk, he'd end up with a boot in the ribs. Accidentally, of course. But Ol' Blue Eyes was all tight and angry around the eyes and Jounouchi just didn't want to risk it.

But he didn't want to leave Kaiba alone either. And at least Ol' Blue Eyes wasn't arguing his presence, like Mokuba was.

What a stupid mess.... Eh, screw it. At the moment his whole big plan was causing more damage than good. "Hey, Kaiba?" He said quietly. Kaiba made a slight noise above him and Jounouchi swallowed, closing his eyes. "Seto, I-"

He found himself unable to finish that sentence, due to the fact that Kaiba had firmly covered his mouth with a hand. Jounouchi's froze, his mouth partially open.

"You have a plan." Kaiba informed him briskly, hand still covering Jounouchi's mouth. "Knowing you, it is not a very good plan or a well thought out plan."

Jounouchi glared back. Hey! There was nothing wrong with his plan.

Except for maybe the timing. And in retrospect, possibly some of the execution. And underestimating just how much it was going to annoy Mokuba.

"But regardless, it is still your plan." Kaiba continued. "And I do not believe that you purposely would do anything to harm myself, my brother or Kaiba Corporation. So therefore I will trust you to your plan, and to tell me when it has been finished."

Jounouchi stared. Kaiba stared back.

Whoa.

Kaiba did -not- trust easily. And yet, he trusted Jounouchi for this to turn out all right. Wow.

"You can let go now." He said. Or tried to anyway. Instead it came out as a series of muffled growls. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, a small, very smug smirk growing on his face.

Oh, ha-ha. Dragon had his tongue.

Well, two could play that game.

Jounouchi took a quick swipe with his tongue at the palm of Kaiba's hand, which was right over his mouth. Kaiba made a funny hitch in his breath, but didn't let go. So Jounouchi licked him again, slowly this time and using the broad part of his tongue, lingering a bit to see if he could get Kaiba to let go.

He got a very intense look, Kaiba's eyes more black than blue, in return and Jounouchi pulled his head backwards --like he should have done in the first place instead of getting into a stubborn contest with his boss-- feeling kind of guilty. Jounouchi blushed slightly, looking at the floor. He was acting like a dog... licking his master's hand. Only he wasn't a dog and Kaiba certainly -wasn't- his master.

Kaiba hesitated a few seconds, then retracted his hand and began typing again. Jounouchi rubbed the back of his neck, realising he knew what Kaiba tasted like now. Ol' Blue Eyes tasted much like he smelled, but with more layers. Sweat salt sweet, a bit of soap from the last time he'd washed his hands, some ink and touch some of that green-tea smelling hand-lotion he used when the air was dry. All mixed together and so very very Kaiba.

He wondered if Kaiba tasted different in different places. If his toes tasted the same as his fingers, or the belly, or the back, or how that sliver patch of skin would feel on his tounge.

Jounouchi reigned in that train of thought, stopping it right there and then. No naughty thoughts about the boss.... no naughty thoughts about the boss... Especially with said boss sitting right there next to him.

He couldn't -wait- for his two weeks to be up.

 

+++  
+++

 

Yuugi stepped inside the main entrance of Kaiba Corporation, feeling rather dazed. He left for a week only to come back to find out that a dead body had been found in the basement of Kaiba Corporation and his best friend had quit the job he loved almost as much as duelling. Supposedly because of said dead body.

He hoped things weren't this bad the next time he left on vacation or he was never going to be able to leave Domino City ever again.

"YUUGI!!!" Jounouchi's cheerful voice bellowed as he looked around the lobby. At least it still looked the same.

"Jounouchi-kun!" He grinned back and waved at his friend. Jounouchi trotted up to him, grabbing and pulling him up in a huge hug before dropping him down on the floor again, leaving a hand resting on one of Yuugi's shoulders. Yuugi leaned against his friend, taking a deep breath and feeling like some missing pieces had been restored. -This- was how he knew he was home.

Jounouchi's face was unusually sombre as he looked down at Yuugi. "What?" Yuugi asked, feeling alarmed.

"I smell blood." Jounouchi said quietly, peering at him intently like he was inspecting Yuugi for bodily harm. Which he probably was, with the intention of beating whomever had made Yuugi bleed into a bloody pulp. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Yuugi blushed as he smiled back. He pulled the hair back from his ears to show Jounouchi his latest adornments.

"Ya got yer ears peirced!" Jounouchi crouched down to peer at the mismatched hoops that now decorated his ears. Two holes in his left ear, one in his right.

"Kajiki-kun helped me with them." Yuugi nodded happily. "He said it was a sailing tradition and it sounded like a good idea to me. One for each port we stopped at."

"Better than one for each beer ya had." Jounouchi quipped, patting him on the back.

Yuugi smiled. There had been other reasons for it, of course. He'd felt like a change and travelling outside of the city had seemed like the best place for it. And his Other Self, when they had gone to complete his memories, had had his ears pierced in a similar fashion as well. Of course, his Other Self's earrings had been much larger, and gold, but this was what had been at hand at the time. He'd get some better earrings later, Kaijiki had recommended that he not change the piercing for at least a week, unless they got infected.

Which he was -not- going to allow to happen. For one thing, he didn't want to go through the hassle of doing this again. Sleeping on sore abused earlobes was definitely a new experience he didn't care to repeat. "So what's this rumour I hear about you quitting?" He inquired.

Jounouchi shook his head. "S'not important, we can talk about that later. But while you're here, was hopin' you could do me a favour."

"Depends on the favour." Yuugi said hesitantly. He'd agree to it, but it never hurt to find out what he was in for first.

"Ya heard the news, right?" Jounouchi said seriously, his hand dropping off of Yuugi's shoulder.

Yuugi nodded. "It's all I've heard since I got off the boat."

"Then ya know about Mokuba and Noa finding Noa's remains in an abandon section of Kaiba Corporation." Jounouchi sighed, scratching the back of his head. Yuugi nodded in agreement. "Couldja talk to Noa? He's kinda shook up, but he's actin' all smooth and stuff like it doesn't bother him at all. Ol' Blue Eyes is his usual self, Mokuba's being a teenager and I'm not so good with the whole life after death thing."

Where as Yuugi had personal experience with 'the whole life after death thing'. "Certainly." He agreed. "Where is he now?"

"He's..." Jounouchi looked up. Yuugi did as well, looking through the crowd of floating Duel Monsters who populated the large ceiling area. He spotted two Blue Eyes White Dragons. One was resting above the doors to the elevator, snapping moodily at a passing Panther Warrior. The other was tucked up in a far corner, warily watching everyone down below. "... Up there."

"Noa-kun!" He called, catching the Blue Eyes White Dragon in the corner's attention. He waved as Jounouchi stepped behind, allowing Yuugi some room to work. The Blue Eyes shook itself, then opened its wings and dove towards them. It looked like the Blue Eyes was angling to swoop up and land before them, then Yuugi held his hands out to it and it changed course ever so slightly, angling right towards him.

Yuugi was aware of people making surprised gasps and fleeing the large dragon flying towards that area, but held his ground. The dragon veneer melted away at the last moment, revealing a distraught looking green-haired teenager that barrelled into Yuugi's slight frame. Yuugi wrapped his arms around Noa as he staggered back a half-step, his back hitting Jounouchi's front as his friend stabilising him.

"I hear it's been a rough week for you." Yuugi commented quietly, holding on to Noa even as the body he held turned insubstantial. Poor Noa.

"Just a bit." Noa agreed, lifting his head from Yuugi's shoulder and taking a step back, out of Yuugi's hold. "Sorry about the dive."

"Nothing to worry about." Yuugi assured him, wrapping an arm around Noa's waist and escorting him towards the elevator doors in much the same way 'Jiichan would to make sure that Yuugi wasn't about to run off because there needed to be A Conversation. Not that it would stop Noa in the slightest if Noa objected. "Why don't we go somewhere less public and you can catch me up on the latest news."

"Okay." Noa nodded, following Yuugi as Jounouchi trailed behind them, keeping a glowering eye out for people who might try to intercept them.

Travelling was good for the soul, but so were family and friends.

 

+++  
+++

 

"I give up."

And with that, Mokuba's personal bodyguard closed his eyes and slumped against the back of the limo as if he was world-weary and ready for a nap. Which considering the amount of energy he'd been putting in trying to talk to Mokuba, probably wasn't much of a stretch.

Mokuba snorted, sitting back into his own seat --as far as he could get from Jounouchi without sitting in the front seat with the chauffeur-- with a small sigh. He didn't care, he didn't want to hear anything the bastard said. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Jounouchi left, the better.

The bastard. Breaking his promises like that. He was half surprised that 'Niisama wasn't after Jounouchi's head for this.

They rode in silence for a while, Jounouchi not moving from his slumped position and Mokuba sitting with his arms crossed as he watched the streets go by.

"Hey." Mokuba said as they approached the tower. "Where's Noa?"

"He's with Yuugi." The bastard didn't even raise his head from the back of the seat, even as he waved a insolent hand around in the air. "They're talkin'."

"Yuugi's back?" Mokuba blinked, then grinned. Yuugi was back! It wasn't like Yuugi could solve their problems --not that they needed him to do so--, but he certainly could help smooth things over. He was good like that.

Mokuba was out of the limo as soon as it came to a stop, bounding up the stairs. He ignored Jounouchi's shouts behind him as the blond scrambled to follow him. He hurried through the front doors and headed upstairs. He had a pretty good idea where Yuugi was. Yuugi usually didn't go anywhere in the building without one of them, Noa wasn't comfortable alone with 'Niisama's room, Jounouchi was with Mokuba, so therefore they were probably in Mokuba and Noa's lab.

Jounouchi slid in between the elevator doors just as they were sliding shut, barely making it in. The bastard grumbled a bit, straightening his clothing as he leaned against a wall, but didn't say anything -to- Mokuba as they rode up. Mokuba smirked. Good.

The bastard was silent as he followed Mokuba to the lab, Mokuba not bothering to knock as he opened the door.

Yuugi had his back to them, his spine stiff as he focused on the glowing object between his out stretched hands. Noa floated before the duellist, eyes closed as pale wisps of his body disappearing in the glow as they floated away from him, a peaceful expression on his face.

"NOA!!!" Mokuba screamed, lunging towards Yuugi. Jounouchi grabbed him just as he reached the darkly dressed duellist, pulling Mokuba backwards. Mokuba lashed out at them, managing to knock Yuugi off balance. "You're not turning Noa into a card!!!"

His other brother faded from view as Yuugi took a step away from Mokuba, grabbing something out of mid-air. "Calm down." Jounouchi instructed. "I'm sure-"

"Shut Up!" Mokuba caught Jounouchi in the stomach with an elbow, making the blond stagger. However, he still didn't let go of Mokuba, stubbornly hanging on to the back of Mokuba's jacket. Mokuba started to shrug out of the restraining garment, Jounouchi was already leaving, he wasn't losing Noa as well.

"End temporary suspension of Kaiba Corporation Holographic Systems." Yuugi instructed, holding a hand to his ribs where Mokuba had made contact. "Re-activate Solid Vision. Re-activate Solid System."

The electronic whine of the Solid System projectors started up, Noa's form appearing in the middle of the room, where he had been when they had walked into the room. Mokuba stopped struggling as Noa blinked a few times, slowly moving his body and flexing his hands a few times, like he'd been asleep for a long period of time.

"How do you feel?" Yuugi asked, a slight smile on his face, despite the pale sheen of sweat on his skin.

"Better." Noa admitted, with one of his rare peaceful smiles. "Thanks."

"Noa?" Mokuba questioned. Jounouchi released his jacket, but didn't move away. Mokuba ignored him, focusing on his green-haired brother. "Are you all right?"

"Hm?" Noa looked up at him with surprise. "Ototo! You're back early! How was school?"

"You... but..." Mokuba shook his head, panic fading into disbelieve. "Yuugi was sealing you into a card..."

Noa looked embarrassed as he glanced between Noa and Yuugi. "I was." Yuugi admitted. "But not the way you think."

"Seto's mentioned before that I'm not just a projection, but a spirit as well." Noa mumbled, looking at the ground. "There's that exorcism as soon as the police release the room, and I don't want to be moved on just yet, not even by accident."

"Which I don't think is going to happen, because Mokuba-kun won't let it." Yuugi said with a small smile as he held up a Duel Monsters card. "But it never hurts to have a bit of insurance. I haven't seen a shrine for Noa-kun in your house, so we made him a physical tie to this world. Bakura-kun did it before, sealing a part of himself in my Puzzle so he wouldn't be destroyed in a Shadow Game, even if he lost. We decided it couldn't hurt to do something similar."

"I..." They -didn't- have a shrine for Noa anywhere. No picture, no name tablet, nowhere to burn incense. They didn't have one for Gozaburou either, but that was because he was a shit-face and neither of them were going to pray for -him-. But he'd never even thought of that for Noa. Probably because Mokuba had always assumed that they didn't need to, he was going to bring Noa back.

"So anyway." Yuugi swayed a bit as he stood up. He handed the card to Noa, who reverently took it. "Find someplace safe to keep this. I don't know what will happen if it's destroyed, but it's probably not good."

"Agreed." Noa nodded, looking at the card. "Thank you again."

"You're welcome." Yuugi nodded, then yawned. Jounouchi chuckled as he walked over and wrapped an arm around his best friend.

"Come on." Jounouchi said, half carrying Yuugi out of the room. "I'll show you my favourite place to nap."

Yuugi didn't so much as wave good-bye as the door slid shut behind them, his eyes mostly shut as he leaned against the blond.

"It takes a lot of energy to do that." Noa said, looking at the card. "To put some of the spirit someplace else without putting all of it. Evidently I was kind of tricky because I have other parts of myself other places as well."

"Oh?" Mokuba closed the gap between them, just glad that Noa was still here.

"Um-hmm." Noa nodded, blushing slightly. He reached out and brushed Mokuba's forehead with a finger. "I'm here too."

Mokuba blinked. Oh.

That made sense, actually. Noa had taken over his body before their escape from Noa's fortress. Mokuba's mind may have been gone from it, but Mokuba had certainly been there as well, at least from what Noa had said. Which had probably been part of the reason that Mokuba had been able to salvage and repair Noa as well as he had, he had part of the pieces already with him.

"So..." Mokuba craned his neck to look at the card. "What are you going to do with that?"

"I think..." Noa smiled, a secretive fond smile. One that usually meant trouble for someone.

Then Noa stretched out his hands, the card cradled in the palms of his hands. The image was of a younger Noa, in Noa's current clothing, curled in a loose fetal position against a swirling background, as if he were asleep. "If it's not too much of an imposition..."

Mokuba stared for a minute. This wasn't just a normal card, this was part of -Noa-.

Noa fidgeted slightly, pulling his hands back, which jolted Mokuba out of his daze. He reached up, opening the locket that was always around his neck, the one that was just the right size to hold a photo. Or a Duel Monsters card.

He put Noa's card in the locket, opposite of the picture of a very young 'Niisama playing chess and closed it. "This okay?" He asked, pressing the locket against his chest.

Noa nodded, a faint blush across his cheeks. "More than okay."

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto didn't bother looking up from his typing as the door opened. The secretary hadn't announced anyone, security wasn't shouting and there was no shout of ''Niisama', so therefore it was merely Jounouchi on his afternoon rounds.

Likewise, he wasn't disturbed when his chair was shifted slightly to the side so a large blond body could climb under the desk. He just moved his chair back into it's previous position as Jounouchi settled down in his customary spot for a nap.

He did notice however, when he went to stretch his legs and encountered a body with his foot. He stopped typing and pushed his chair back to peer underneath his desk. Usually there was little problem with both of them occupying the space under the desk, both of them well accustomed to accommodating for the other.

Seto was rather surprised to discover two bodies under his desk, Yuugi spooned against Jounouchi's larger body, both of them fast asleep.

Huh. TWO people could fit under his desk comfortably. Well, as long as one of them was the size of a pre-pubescent teenager.

He stopped that train of thought as he moved his chair back, briefly pondering the pros and cons of getting Jounouchi his own office for the purpose of the blond to take naps in.

 

+++  
+++

 

Jounouchi looked at the door, a feeling of unease pooling in his gut. It was Mokuba's bedroom door, he'd seen it hundreds of times, but now it was more of a defensive barrier than it had ever been before.

Mokuba, in a truly impressive display of teenage angst, hadn't spoken to him since the exorcism three days ago. Not that there had been anything of great remark about the exorcism, after many of the local temples and shrines attempting to kiss Kaiba's ass to be allowed to perform this high profile exorcism, it had been almost anti-climatic. Fancy Priest had gone in into the room, chanted a bit, waved some stuff around, Fancy Priest had come out and declared the area free of spirits.

Noa, who had been floating between Jounouchi and Mokuba, just smiled.

Then Yuugi, who had scared the crap out of the security guys by appeared out of nowhere, had excused himself for a minute. He then walked into the room, shut the door behind him, opened the door a minute later, walked over to Kaiba and dropped a handful of Fiend / Zombie cards into Kaiba's hands and walked off.

Kaiba hadn't complained. He'd gotten a new level seven card, 'Fusion Richie', out of it.

The employees, who had watched the entire proceedings as they'd been streamed on to the Kaiba Corporation servers for people to watch while working, had calmed down since then as well. Noa didn't seem to be getting as many strange looks either, so life was improving.

Except for this leaving bit. It was his last day, Mokuba was in bed so technically his duties were over. Jounouchi had even cleaned his room for the first time since moving in.

And he couldn't quite muster the balls to knock on the door to say good-bye.

He let his hand drop, fingers curling into a fist. Some protector. Jounouchi Katsuya, coward. That's what he was. He raised his hand to knock again.

"I would not advise that." Kaiba's cold even voice commented from over his shoulder, making him jump slightly. He hadn't heard Ol' Blue Eyes' approach. "You are liable to have things thrown at you if you attempt to enter."

And they both knew for a fact that Mokuba still had some of his old switchblades hidden about the room, just in case he needed them in an emergency.

"I know... but..." He didn't want to just -leave-. Not like this.

Kaiba wrapped his hand around Jounouchi's, his fingers cool and dry against Jounouchi's palm. "If you are going to leave, do so. Do not hesitate over it."

'Do it now, before you are unable to', Kaiba's expression almost seemed to say. A distant portion of Jounouchi's brain wondered how much of that would be Jounouchi's own personal reluctance, and how much of it would be Kaiba's mulish possessiveness refusing to allow Jounouchi to walk out the door.

"I release you from your promise." Kaiba said eyes narrowing fiercely, even as his grip tightened around Jounouchi's hand, almost painfully so. "To not leave me alone, if that is what you are worried about."

Well, that was one thing off his mind. But he couldn't say anything about that until later. If Kaiba would listen to him then. "Thanks." He managed to get past his dry throat. If they moved a little closer, they'd be pressed up against each other. If they moved a little bit closer, they'd be close enough to kiss.

Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Ol' Blue Eye's eyes were that really dark intense glare again, eyes more black than blue. Now if only Kaiba'd ruffle his hair up a little bit, he'd look completely fuckable. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, he was supposed to be -avoiding- those....

Crap.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Kaiba asked quietly.

"Yeah." Jounouchi nodded, swallowing to get some moisture back in his throat so he could speak. He looked back at Mokuba's door, it was easier to talk that way without getting distracted. "Other than Yuugi's, for a change. Do you want the communicator and stuff back?"

"Keep them. At least for the moment." Kaiba's eyes dipped down to the collar at the base of Jounouchi's neck, then lingered for a moment. "I'll get them back eventually."

"Okay." It gave them a reason to meet up later, incase things went south.

They stood there for a moment longer, not talking, not looking at each other, just standing next to each other. Then finally, Kaiba unwrapped his fingers from Jounouchi's hand, turned and strode into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Jounouchi alone in the empty hallway.

Jounouchi stood there for a moment more before turning the other direction and walking down the corridor to leave the Kaiba Mansion.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Ototo! Get up!" Noa scolded, floating above the bed.

"Don't wanna." Mokuba muttered darkly, the covers pulled up over his head except for a little crack he could breathe through. "Can't make me."

"OTOTO!!!" Noa wailed. Mokuba ignored him. There was a moment of silence, then Noa's voice from the doorway: "Seto? Our Ototo isn't leaving the bed."

"Mokuba!" 'Niisama shouted from his room. "Get up! It's time for school!"

"Don't care." Mokuba growled back, pulling the covers tighter around him. 'Niisama didn't care if Jounouchi left or not. Neither did Noa. Noa seemed to think that everything was going to work out okay. That was the last time he tried to find a friend for 'Niisama, the big jerk could just die for all he cared.

... okay, not -die-. They'd been through that before, that was bad, that was worse than people leaving. But he could go jump off a tall building.

... wait, that's what Gozaburou had done...

Okay, 'Niisama and Noa could do something extremely painful but non-lethal because Mokuba didn't actually want them to -leave-, just suffer a bit. Like he was.

Noa let out a long tired sigh above him as the projectors changed their subtle whine, indicating that Noa was switching from Solid Vision to Solid System. A hand shook his shoulders. "Get up. You're going to be late."

"So?" Mokuba surly demanded back. What was so great about school? He'd just have to deal with more mutters from his classmates about having an invisible friend and him thinking that he was too good to spend time with them. Except for Satoshi, who'd just get mad at him if he didn't feel up to Duelling during break. Big whoop. He'd already finished the rest of this year's homework last week when he couldn't work on the computers.

"Up." Noa insisted. Mokuba sat up, grabbed his green-haired brother and pinning Noa to the bed with his weight. Noa wiggled, trying to escape from Mokuba's grasp, which just made Mokuba cling tighter. "OTOTO~!!!" Noa wailed. "Let me go! Release me! Hey! Stop touching me there!!! SETO!!! HELP! HE'S GROPING ME!!

'Niisama made a rumbled comment that it sounded like a personal problem to him.

Noa sighed, finally laying still. Mokuba hid a smirk. Hah. He'd won.

"Seto?" Noa said outloud. "Mind if I release a few of the security restrictions?"

"If you think it'll work." 'Niisama said with dry morbid humour.

"All right." And with that passive comment, Noa slipped out of his grasp, switching back to Solid Vision.

"Hey!" Mokuba sat up as he protested.

And suddenly found himself attacked by multiple green-haired dervishes. He was jolted out of bed, stripped, dressed, hair brushed and pushed out the bedroom door with his school bag in his hand without so much as a by-your-leave.

Mokuba just stood there and stared for a second, his brain trying to catch up. 'Niisama stepped out of his room, adjusting a bracer around his wrist. "Ah. I see you're up. Do you have time for breakfast?"

"He does if he hurries." Noa's voice, echoing strangely. Mokuba turned around and saw four different Noa bodies merge back together into one solid person. So that's how he had done it.

"M'not hungry." Mokuba grumbled. 'Niisama snorted, stopping just shy of rolling his eyes.

"Fine. Have a good day at school." 'Niisama said, patting the top of Mokuba's head as he strode past, heading for work.

Mokuba crossed his arms. "Jerk."

"Let's go." Noa instructed, switching back over to Solid Vision in the hallway. "You can eat in the car if you want."

"Don't wanna." Mokuba grumbled as Noa herded him towards the front door. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

He opened the front door and stepped out at Noa's urging, stopping in the door way. The limo wasn't waiting for him at the doorway. He blinked, looking around, wondering if he should be anticipating an ambush or something. Deviation from the routine was usually a bad thing.

"OI!!!" A loud voice called from the street. He stepped forward, finally spotting the limousine parked at the end of the driveway, a blond haired figure waving at him from the other side of the security gate.

Mokuba blinked, then shook his head and blinked again. "Jounouchi?!"

"HURRY UP!" Jounouchi, dressed in a chauffeur looking uniform plus cap shouted. "YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!"

 

+++  
+++

 

The computer beeped, notifying Seto that Jounouchi had entered the building. He wasn't entirely surprised, this was about the usual time that Jounouchi would finish dropping Mokuba off at school and appear. He hadn't been entirely sure that the blond would show up, there had been the off chance that he would have had to track the bodyguard down.

Or more appropriately, have security track the blond down. With a vengeance, if necessary.

-Seto hadn't slept entirely well the previous night. He hadn't had any nightmares, but he'd slept restlessly and found himself to be a bit cranky this morning, even by his standards.

Security met the blond at the door, quietly and efficiently ushering Jounouchi to the elevator and up to Seto's office. Seto was slightly amused by the bodyguard's passiveness, he went were dictated with only the merest touch of reluctance, eyeing the door once or twice as if to verify that he could make his escape if he really desperately wanted to. Seto thought he even might make it, depending on how determined the blond was.

Jounouchi stumbled into the office, blinking stupidly as he came to a staggering halt, looking around as if he were surprised to find himself there. Seto smiled sweetly at him, showing lots of fang as he motioned the blond towards the sofa style chairs in front of the desk for guests to sit at, not bothering to rise as the door shut behind the blond. "Please, have a seat."

"Okay." Jounouchi muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Now I know you're -really- mad at me. I've -seen- you make sure the springs on those things are rotten."

Seto didn't bother to contradict the accusation. After all, it was a waste of time to deny the allegation when it was the truth.

Jounouchi cast one more look towards the door as he walked towards the desk, electing to stand rather than sit in the uncomfortable chairs. Seto's smirk deepened. While Jounouchi had a chance at getting past the Kaiba Corporation Security, there was -no- chance of the blond being able to get past -him-.

At least, not while Seto had his finger on the button to unlock the doors that were the main exit out of the room.

"Rather than dancing around the subject, why don't I start with what I know." Seto pulled a folder out of his desk drawer and set it down on the desk in between them. "Nineteen days ago, you acquired my signature on your voluntary termination of employment form. Seventeen days ago, you acquired Mokuba's. I am not going to inquire how you managed to do this, so long as there are no repeat incidents."

"No problem." Jounouchi shoved his hands into his pockets. "Didn't like doin' it the first time."

Seto pondered the truth of his words, then nodded. Intrigue and Subterfuge were not the blond's way.

"Fifteen days ago, you informed us of your imminent termination. At that time, Kaiba Noa started to reorganise various financial accounts." He added a second folder to the desktop. "Among them, direct deposits to your account. Which might have been suspicious had not the both of you set up a minor independent contracting business at the time. With yourself as the employee and Noa as the employer, with the goal of protecting one Mokuba Kaiba upon entering an agreement with me."

Jounouchi nodded causally. "Sounds about right."

Seto frowned, looking Jounouchi in the eye, willing an answer out of the blond. "You quit your job to be hired by someone else to do the exact same thing. Why?"

The blond sighed, scratching the side of his nose in a nervous gesture. "Let's back it up a little farther. I get kidnapped by a mad scientist. Y'didn't tell me. Why?"

That wasn't an answer to his question, but he was willing to play this little game, for a short time anyway. "Because I thought it would interfere with your duties if you thought you had failed."

Now it was Jounouchi's turn to look him in the eye, as if willing answers. "And I spent about two weeks thinkin' I was gonna drop dead at any minute. Kinda messes with yer head a bit, thinkin' about all the things ya could have done, or wanted ta do before ya pass on. Regrets, hopes, that sorta stuff."

Seto frowned, failing to see how this tied into Jounouchi's quitting. The blond chuckled, as if he should have expected Seto's reaction. "Let me ask you this. Why'd you come and rescue me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" What an idiotic question. Jounouchi had been missing, so Seto had gone and got him. Simple.

"No." Jounouchi said gently, as if explaining something to one of Mokuba's classmates. "Why did -you- come and rescue me instead of sending Security?"

"I..." Seto trailed off, realising that he had no answer. He hadn't even thought about sending anyone else because Jounouchi wasn't part of Kaiba Corporation, he was Seto's....

His.... something.

"Your mutations." He finally said, inspiration striking. "They would have come to light if a security force had gone in."

Only that was a lie. They hadn't known what they would find when they had gone in, it could have been a simple kidnapping and ransom demand instead of a mentally unstable doctor. He hadn't needed to go in person to get Jounouchi, that was what he had an entire security force for. But he'd still gone.

From Jounouchi's raised eyebrow, the blond appeared to recognise the fiction as the falsehood it was.

Miscalculation. Seto had miscalculated and not even noticed it. Again. He seemed to do that a lot when it came to the blond.

"Part of my responsibility is to make sure that nothin' happens to you, yer brother or the company." Jounouchi said softly. "And kissin' the employees ain't exactly good for business."

If Jounouchi was working for Noa, he was no longer directly employed by Seto, which removed that ethical obstacle.

The blond had just changed the rules of the game.

There was a faint distant jubilant 'Yes!' from the back of his brain, the part that noticed things, like the snugness of Jounouchi's favourite well worn jeans, the grace in the way the blond moved, the texture of his skin, the warmth of his body when pressed against his own. The infectious joy in everything the mediocre duellist did. The way the blond often smiled at him, fond and confused at the same time, but not seeming to mind the latter.

"You could have explained this at the beginning." Seto pointed out, not willing to let the matter drop. It would have avoided two weeks of confusion and pain.

"Yes and no." Jounouchi ran a hand through his hair again, dislodging the cap that hid his ears. "Most my life, I just kinda tend ta go with the flow, I don't stop and think about the choices I'm makin'. Part of the reason for not announcin' it was so that I had a chance to get away from... everythin'. From Kaiba Corporation, from you and Mokuba and Yuugi. So I could have a chance ta stop and think what I wanted in my life without any of ya hovering over my shoulder. Or ta just walk away, if I decided to."

Jounouchi had not had a true day off since Seto and Mokuba had hired him almost two years ago. Theirs was a very public life, the only time that they had any privacy was when they snatched it away for themselves. Any of them had maybe an hour or so a day of privacy if they wanted, the rest of it was spent working, at school, or relaxing together.

Mokuba and Seto were used to it, this was the life that they had been brought up in. But to Jounouchi, it was still something new.

Seto nodded, mentally putting aside the 'walking away' part for now. "And did you chance upon any revelations?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi said ruefully. "Thinkin' sucks."

It was hard to argue with that logic. Especially for someone like the blond, who tended not to think with his brain, but his emotions.

Jounouchi gave him a small sheepish grin, and Seto was startled to realise that his own lips were curved up in the faintest of smiles. He quickly remedied this, he was not here to... flirt with Jounouchi. "Actually." Jounouchi said, closing his eyes like he was steeling himself before continuing on shyly. "I found I like the direction my life is moving in. The whole quittin' thing aside."

This time Seto didn't even bother to hide the smirk on his face. "So." Jounouchi continued, looking a little more like his normal brash shelf, although still guarded. "Those are my cards on the table. The next move is yours."

That little traitorous part of his mind knew -exactly- what move it wanted him to make. Fortunately, that little traitorous part of his mind was not in control. He frowned, pondering the blond's words over. Jounouchi liked him, he liked Jounouchi, what was stopping them from jumping each other and rutting like wild dogs?

"-If you're going to re-instate my security clearance or not." Jounouchi said, a small amused smile on his face, like he was following Seto's train of thought down into the gutter. "If you -want- to, that is."

Seto paused, lacing his hands together and mused things over without the input of that traitorous part of his brain, trying to examine it from all angles now that he knew more of the blond's motivations.

There had been always been a measure of security in Seto's brain because of Jounouchi's mutations, he couldn't work an average 9-5 job, not with dog ears and a tail. And Jounouchi had just changed that. He had -left-, even if it was for one night, even if Seto had realised he was most likely coming back.

Jounouchi could leave any time he wanted to. That confidence was shattered.

Also, if Jounouchi was working for Noa, he didn't have to take orders from Seto, he would no longer be able to 'ground' Jounouchi if they, or Mokuba, did something that Seto did not like. Jounouchi now had the choice to say 'no' to any commands Seto might give. And while Jounouchi did that already, Seto would no longer have the power to override that.

Seto didn't have any guarantees, other than the fact that Jounouchi had indeed come back.

Other than outside of a Duelling Arena, he and Jounouchi were not precisely equal. Not that they were equal -inside- a Duelling Arena either. But Seto was the head of a multi-billion dollar company with global connections. It would take someone a lifetime to catch up to his status. But by taking back some of the power Seto once had over him, namely being able to confine Jounouchi to his desk as a lesson, the blond was making things a little bit more even between them.

On the other hand, in exchange for the loss of power, Jounouchi was willing to offer... something more in compensation.

But did he want Jounouchi back under those conditions? Right now, Jounouchi's job, even his mere presence was dependant on Seto. Jounouchi couldn't protect Mokuba without the Kaiba Corporation security clearance that Seto gave, much less enter their house or any of the Kaiba properties. Seto could say the word and never have to see the blond again.

He had complete control over Jounouchi's future at this very moment.

And the blond knew this. Yet here he was, standing straight and tall, refusing to beg or grovel as he waited for Seto to think things through. Seto could send him away at this moment, stating needing more time to think, but Jounouchi would be back. Probably every day, until he got his answer.

But Seto didn't want to put this off longer, he didn't need time to reflect on it, not while his gut was shouting at him to jump on this, grab hold and not let go. However, there were a few things his prudent, more logical side wanted to make sure of first.

"Was this a test?" He finally asked, rising from his chair. He despised people attempting to play mind games with him like that.

"Yes." Jounouchi said firmly. "But not for you. It was a test of myself. I needed to see if I could do it. If I could leave."

"And can you?" Seto inquired, slowly making his way around the desk. Jounouchi tensed slightly, hands clenched briefly, as if he was preparing to either run or fight.

"Yeah." The blond admitted. "But I don't want to."

Seto nodded, accepting this answer. "For how long?" He pressed, not willing to it this go.

Jounouchi thought about it for a minute before replying. "For as long as we'll tolerate each other-?"

He pondered this. Fair enough answer. If Jounouchi had said 'forever' or something equally idiotically sappy, he would have bodily thrown the blond out of the office. "All right." Seto concurred, stopping a step's distance away from Jounouchi. "Agreed. But... you get to do all the paperwork to re-instate your security clearance yourself. Without help."

"I knew you hated me." Jounouchi grinned broadly back, shifting slightly closer to Seto.

"Completely." Seto agreed, closing the gap between them and firmly pressing his lips against Jounouchi's.

Somehow, this was not the kiss of dreams. Noses smashed, teeth clashed, everything was messy and awkward. He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, bordering on the knife edge of panic. He didn't know how to -fix- this, make it -work-.

Then Jounouchi reached up, grabbing his head and holding it steady as Jounouchi tilted his head slightly and suddenly... it all fit. Jounouchi kissed him slowly, chapped lips teasing against his smooth ones like they had all the time in the world, that they could do this all day. Perhaps they could, Seto mused as he slid his hands around Jounouchi's solid warm body. Katsuya made a pleased humming sound, sliding his own arms under Seto's coat, rubbing circles in the material of his shirt against his back.

This... this he could get used to, the thought flickered across his brain as he nipped at Katsuya's lower lip. The blond smiled against Seto's lips, his rough tongue slipping out to press against Seto's, flirting with him. Seto opened his mouth slightly, allowing the intrusion, but Katsuya kept the kiss light, almost teasingly chaste, despite the hands exploring Seto's back like he wouldn't get this chance again.

His hands slid down past the curve of Katsuya's back to cup the well-built curve of the blond's ass, pulling the slightly shorter man towards him. Katsuya made a small startled sound before chuckling and aggressively returning the favour, the two of them grinding against each other.

Seto's brain shut down right about there with a happy purr.

It took a while for him to get it back.

When he did, they were both breathing hard, clothing and hair mussed, Katsuya's hands having snuck under Seto's shirt and stroking the bare skin of his back. Seto had managed to get the chauffeur coat mostly unbuttoned, his hands stuck in Katsuya's back pockets, his mind a haze of 'hot' 'good' and 'more'. Katsuya had a glazed pleased expression on his face, like he couldn't believe that they had done that, but didn't mind in the least.

"Wow." Katsuya breathed against Seto's mouth, before leaning in to steal a quick kiss. Seto made a satisfied rumbling noise back, not bothering to find the words. Katsuya grinned, playfully bumping noses with him. "Been a while, eh?"

Seto fought an uncomfortable blush. "You could say so, yes." He admitted curtly, even as Katsuya kissed him, taking the sting from Seto's words. Seto had managed to avoid those 'lessons' of Gozaburou's, mainly by taking over the company. He could perform polite society kisses and touches with the best of them, it was all part of the business courtesies, but it never went farther than a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. He had never -wanted- to go farther than that. He'd had a business to run and Mokuba to care for, any other relationships seemed a futile waste of time.

Now, he wanted so much more and didn't have a clue on where to start. Somehow, 'everything' didn't seem to adequately cover it.

Something flickered across Katsuya's face, not quite sympathy, but closer to understanding, as he nodded. "S'okay, I'm out of practise too." The blond assured him, leaning up for another kiss. Which Seto was more than happy to indulge in. Kissing seemed to be like most things, easier with practise and familiarity.

Seto planned for LOTS of 'practise'.

... Right after the phone stopped ringing. He growled low in his throat at the interruption. Katsuya laughed softly as he unwrapped his arms from around Seto, taking a half-step backwards and leaving a cold spot where they had been pressed together. Seto reluctantly slid his hands out of Katsuya's pockets and reached for the phone on the desk with one hand, keeping the other around the blond's waist. "Yes?!" He snapped, hitting the button for the intercom.

"Your next appointment is in ten minutes." His secretary informed him briskly. There was a slight bit of smugness in her tone that made him glare at the phone. Dammit.

"Thank you." He jabbed the connection closed as Katsuya started chuckling, leaning his head against Seto's shoulder like it was too much bother to hold it up on his own. It sent puffs of warm air against the fabric of the turtleneck Seto wore, warming the material against his throat.

"Guess we should get used to this, eh?" Katsuya grinned at him, untangling himself from Seto. "Business to run, chaos to cause, kids to raise?"

"Please don't remind me." Seto muttered, even as the reality started to sink in. Yet another reason why he didn't get involved in relationships, they took time that was usually spent running Kaiba Corporation, or raising Mokuba. Dammit. Duty called.

Katsuya, no, Jounouchi gave him a crooked smile, Seto's own disappointment mirrored in his eyes, even as the blond retreated under his touch. The bodyguard had his own facades, after all, the buffoon being the least of them. Seto sighed as they both set about to straightening their own clothes and helping each other with the tricky bits. Which, really, was just an excuse to pet the other one.

"I'd... better go get started on the paperwork." Jounouchi finally said, adjusting the hat covering his ears as he made a face. The expression changed to something slightly more hopeful. "See you tonight? Usual time?"

Seto nodded, privately marvelling that somehow, going home together like they usually did suddenly sounded like a date. "I'll see you then."

Jounouchi beamed at him, leaning up to nip at Seto's lower lip before dashing towards the door. Seto smiled slightly, walking back towards his seat, mind already switching over to what he needed for the upcoming meeting.

"Jounouchi?" He stopped the blond before he could make his exit. "In the future, none of this at work. It makes things... -hard-."

The blond cackled as he disappeared out the door. Seto smirked, slightly tinged with discomfort as he quickly adjusted himself before he got back to the business of running Kaiba Corporation.

 

+++  
+++

 

"You're looking rather smug today, Kaiba-kun." Yuugi smiled at the business mogul as he stepped into Kaiba's office. "Did you do something naughty to someone?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him, but the amused smirk that hovered at the edges of his mouth did not fade. It was both a positive sign and a slightly worrisome one as well. Kaiba rarely relaxed enough to be smug instead of angry, but at the same time, it meant that someone, somewhere, was probably crying.

Yuugi was guessing it was business related, Kaiba didn't duel much anymore. Kaiba had already beaten most of the better players in the tournament circles into submission by now and Yuugi couldn't think of any tournaments around Domino City this week anyway.

"You could say that." Kaiba agreed in a very pleased way that made Yuugi think of sex. Walking sex on legs, as Jounouchi had said once. Or something like that. "Have you talked to Jounouchi recently?"

"Not for a few days." Yuugi admitted, setting the purpose of his visit down on the desk. "I just got back in town a few hours ago, I've been away with 'Jiichan, taking care of business."

"Hmm." Kaiba hit a few keys on his keyboard and actually looked at him, with that intense blue-eyed stare so many found disconcerting. Yuugi had, when he was younger, but now he found it sort of comforting in a dangerous sort of way. Kaiba usually had that look when he was on the defensive, which meant he had something to protect. "Has he talked to you about any of his current plans for the future?"

"Not really." Yuugi shrugged. Jounouchi usually didn't talk much about the future, he preferred to live in the present. "Is this about the 'rumour' of him quitting?" He'd heard it when he'd first come back from his vacation, but he hadn't had the time to talk to Jounouchi and find out the truth behind it.

"It's not a rumour." Kaiba informed him bluntly. "He did quit. His last day working for Mokuba and myself was last night."

Yuugi stared. He caught himself at it a couple of seconds later as his eyeballs informed him that they were dry and he finally blinked a few times. "What?!"

"Jounouchi is no longer working for Kaiba Corporation." Kaiba reiterated.

"WHAT?!" Hearing it a second time didn't help, it still didn't make sense. Jounouchi -loved- his job. He'd fight rabid fangirls to keep his job. And fanboys. Of course, that was part of the job, but still...

He held a hand up before Kaiba could smugly repeat it a third time. This was Kaiba. Who was his friend, but who had never quite gotten out of the habit of trying to bait him. "Who is Jounouchi-kun working for now?" Yuugi questioned, taking a mental step back and changing perspectives slightly.

Kaiba gave him an approving smirk. "Noa."

"Noa-kun." Yuugi echoed. "... Doing what?"

"The exact same damn thing he was doing under Mokuba and myself." Kaiba sat back in his chair. "Acting as Mokuba's bodyguard, chasing me down to eat and running around Kaiba Corporation causing chaos. He just reports to Noa instead as an independent contractor."

"So he quit so that he could do the exact same job under someone else." Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, that sounds like Jounouchi-kun."

"Yes." Kaiba agreed, with that pleased smirk that reminded Yuugi of walking sex again.

... While they were talking about Jounouchi.

Jounouchi.

Kaiba.

Sex.

.... Oh...

Yuugi swallowed, fighting the sudden lump in his throat. So they had finally gotten together. Good for them, they suited each other well. Kaiba-kun needed someone to get him to relax and show him how to have fun. And Jounouchi-kun needed someone to help balance him out, give him some stability, show him how to enjoy the quiet times as well as the fighting.

... Somehow, the thoughts didn't come as easily as he thought they would. Yuugi cursed himself for his weakness even as he mustered up a smile. He'd get over the loss of his best friend eventually. After all, it didn't hurt as much to think about his Other Self as it once had.

"Congratulations." Yuugi said, resisting the urge to clutch at his chest as if it could ease the hurt there, or to grasp at the puzzle that was no longer there. Kaiba-kun was a friend now, but that didn't stop the rivalry between them. And you didn't show weakness in front of a rival. Kaiba-kun probably hadn't meant to hurt him with the news, it was just the way Kaiba-kun was, unthinkingly blunt.

Kaiba-kun looked at him with fathomless blue eyes for a moment. "Thank you." He said quietly, his words holding a great deal of gravity behind them.

Yuugi nodded back, not trusting himself to speak as the silence weighed in around them.

After a moment, Kaiba-kun cleared his throat, leaning forward in his seat. "You didn't come here to talk about that." He said, changing the subject. "What brings you here today?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind accepting a gift, actually." Yuugi said motioning to the bottle he'd set on the table when he'd first walked in, gratefully accepting the topic change as he set his thoughts aside for the moment. He could cry about it later, in the privacy of his room.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, reaching forward and picking the bottle up. "Tequila?"

"A gift from a friend of 'Jiichan's to him." Yuugi explained, clearing his throat. "I was hoping you'd keep it, as a favour to me."

Kaiba's eyebrow inched a fraction higher. "How is keeping a bottle of good Tequila a favour to you?"

"Because you'll be keeping 'Jiichan from drinking it." Yuugi said seriously. "The last time he got a bottle of good Tequila, he tried to get me into a dress because then I'd be cute and molestable."

"I see." Kaiba said with a small quirk to his lips that said he was probably picturing Yuugi all cute and molestable in a dress. Yuugi glared back. He was -not- cute! He wasn't. Really he wasn't. Seriously.

"Oh, shut up." Yuugi growled.

Kaiba snickered, leaning back in his chair again, cradling the bottle of liquor in his hands. "I know where we can get a dress for you to wear." He smirked. "Jounouchi has one in his closet."

Yuugi blushed. Oh, gods. He remembered that dress. The little purple dress had been... interesting, but he was still grateful that Jounouchi still hadn't had the opportunity to wear a flower-print bikini.

... Did Jounouchi still have the bikini too? Ack. He loved Jounouchi, he really did, but there were -some- limits to their friendship.

"There's glasses in the cupboard behind you." Kaiba directed, peeling the seal off the top of the bottle. "You look like you could use a drink and it's impolite to drink alone."

Yuugi thought about it for a moment, then nodded and went to fetch the glasses. It was the end of the workday for Kaiba, Mokuba and Jounouchi-kun would arrive soon to take the businessman home, being gone was the best bet, but Kaiba probably wasn't going to let him go that easily, so having some sort of buffer would probably be a good idea anyway. And Kaiba was probably in a celebratory mood anyway, it couldn't hurt to kill two birds with one stone. After all, what trouble could they get into?

Kaiba had cleared off the desk by the time he returned with two crystal shot glasses. Yuugi set them down, Kaiba pouring them both a drink before setting the bottle down in the middle of the table like it was a declaration of war.

"This would be better with some salt and a lime." Kaiba mused, picking up his own glass. "Ah, well. Kampai!"

"Kampai!" Yuugi cheered as well, and drank.

And then grimaced.

By Tenenit, this stuff tasted foul...

 

+++  
+++

 

"-And THEN, I'm going to use every kitchen utensil I can lay my hands on to slooooooowly skin every last bit of skin from your body. And THEN, I'm gonna start on your flesh. And THEN-"

"So..." Jounouchi drawled, scratching the side of his nose as he cut Mokuba's tirade off. "Is this for if I leave again without your express permission or if I hurt your brother?"

Mokuba glared back. While he was happy that Jounouchi wasn't actually leaving, and possibly dating 'Niisama, he wasn't quite ready to forgive the blond just yet. And he was making -damn- sure Jounouchi knew it too. Loudly. All afternoon.

He was rather proud that he'd yet to repeat himself. At least, as far as he could tell.

"-Not that I'm planning on doing either one of those." Jounouchi hastily added.

"Good." Mokuba growled. "Or I really WON'T forgive you."

The blond bodyguard chuckled sheepishly as Noa made soft soothing sounds, trying to calm Mokuba's anger. They waved to Ryuu-san, who was watching them with a fond look as she finished packing up for the night before Jounouchi knocked on the door.

"Ready or not!" Jounouchi called, opening the door with a good deal more cheer than he should have. "Here we come!!!"

Mokuba almost ran into his back as Jounouchi failed to walk into the room. "Something wrong?" He asked, trying to peer over the larger man's shoulders. Noa just levitated up, his green head over Jounouchi's blond one.

"They're not here." Jounouchi sounded puzzled.

"Kaiba-sama's last meeting of the day was with Yuugi-san." Ryuu-san offered helpfully as she stepped out from behind her fortress of a desk. "They left about ten minutes ago. I think they were planning on going down to the duelling platforms."

"The duelling...." Mokuba bit off a curse. "Noa!"

"On it." Noa said calmly, drawing the outline of a rectangle in the air with a hand, a transparent screen appearing. Noa's quickly scrolled through a number of windows that rapidly popped up and closed at his graceful motions, with the grace of a wizard performing a spell. "Got it. They're down in R&D."

"The Solid System testing platform." Jounouchi finished. "Thanks, Ryuu-san!!!" He waved as he turned on his foot and dashed towards the elevator. Mokuba waved as well as she waved them on and muttered about catching the next elevator.

"Argh. I can't believe them." Mokuba muttered darkly as the elevator doors closed behind them. Noa took up his usual position, draped over Mokuba's shoulders as Mokuba inserted his key card to take the elevator off the usual routes so they could get to the Research and Development department faster. "I turn my back for one day and they're at each other's throats again."

"They have been getting along better." Noa reminded him quietly. "What do you think, Jounouchi-kun?"

"I think I'm gonna let Mokuba rip him a new one." Jounouchi said grimly, his arms cross over his chest, looking on the verge of sulking.

"Oooh?" One of Mokuba's rose as he grinned, sensing an opening to tease his bodyguard. "You and 'Niisama have plans for tonight?"

To his surprise, Jounouchi -blushed-. Not just a little blush, like he was embarrassed, but like he had gotten caught doing something he shouldn't have. Or -thinking- something he shouldn't have. "Not really." The blond muttered.

Noa exchanged a look with Mokuba. They so totally did have plans too. "Don't worry." Mokuba assured Jounouchi. "I'm sure 'Niisama will make it up to you."

Jounouchi shrugged back like he didn't care, but Mokuba knew better. He sighed, tugging on the end of his braid. So maybe he wouldn't Jounouchi -such- a hard time for leaving and coming back. 'Niisama was enough of a jerk as it was.

The elevator slowed down and opened into the corridors of the R&D department. "C'mon." Jounouchi said, leading the way by virtue of spending more time here than either Mokuba or Noa. He cut through the lockers, walking out on the playing field.

And then they all stopped. And stared. Stared LOTS.

"Is that..." Mokuba ventured hesitantly.

"A drunk tiger." Noa finished for him. "A Very Large drunk tiger. With a sake bottle. Yes."

"Actually, I was wondering about the drunkenly swaying angel." Mokuba scratched his head. It looked almost like your classic angel, long flowing blond hair, white wings... and white duster, white trousers, wide black hat, partly undone black shirt, and a mostly gone red tie.

"Ojyoshi Ippon!!" Yuugi shouted. 'One More Sake'. A card exploded as 'Niisama growled, losing 500 life points.

Mokuba stared. He'd never seen 'Niisama -sway- like that before. Or blush. He looked completely serious as he kind of rotated in a circle, glaring at Yuugi. Or off to Yuugi's left, it was kind of hard to tell. Yuugi was in much the same state, only not wobbling quite as much.

"Are they... are they DRUNK?!" Mokuba finally squeaked.

"I'd say that's a definite possibility." Jounouchi deadpanned.

Yuugi and 'Niisama noticed them. "Jou~nou~chi~!!" Yuugi waved drunkenly, leaning dangerously to one side, a broad grin on his happily blushing face. "You made it!"

"He cheats." 'Niisama informed them bluntly, rocking side to side like he was on a rolling ship. "He keeps making cards up."

"I do not." Yuugi said stubbornly, his lower lip coming out in what would have been a terribly cute pout if he hadn't been so totally sloshed. "There's nothing in the rules against it, so long as you got the cards."

"Okay." Jounouchi said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them nervously. "Here's what we're going to do. Mokuba, Noa, I'm going to send you on ahead with one of the guards and I'll get these two home."

"We could help." Noa suggested eagerly.

"No, you'd record this for posterity and blackmail purposes." Jounouchi said with such a cheerful innocent tone that it took a minute to catch the cynicism underneath. "I'll take care of 'em. Got plenty of experience handlin' drunks."

"But-" Mokuba protested, only to be stopped by Jounouchi's hand on his head as the blond crouched slightly so they were eye level.

"Please." Jounouchi said seriously. Mokuba belatedly remembered what he knew of Jounouchi's home life before he had moved out on his own. Jounouchi's father had been an alcoholic, a somewhat violent one at that from what Mokuba hadn't supposed to hear.

"Okay." He agreed slowly, recognising the blond's way of trying to protect them. 'Niisama didn't like to be out of control, so he always avoided drinking. Or at least while Mokuba was around, so didn't know how 'Niisama reacted while drunk. If he was happy, or melancholy, or what. "But if you need help, call us first, all right?"

Jounouchi nodded, standing up straight again. "Promise." He agreed, patting Mokuba on the head before letting his hand drop.

"Good." Mokuba said fiercely. And he was going to hold Jounouchi to that one too. The blond had BETTER call them if he ran into trouble or it was going to be Jounouchi's head instead of 'Niisama's.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi called, waving to the duellists. "Kaiba! I'll be right back, don't go anywhere, okay? Stay right here."

"Okay, Jou~nou~chi-kuuuun." Yuugi sang, swaying the other way and nearly dropping a few of his cards. 'Niisama grunted, giving them a curt nod before declaring it was his turn. Jounouchi briefly rubbed the bridge of his nose as 'Niisama placed one of his business cards in defence mode.

"Right. Let's get you two home." Jounouchi muttered, shepherding them back towards the elevator.

"Well, look at the bright side, Jounouchi-san." Noa said helpfully. "At least they haven't started switching clothing."

There was a noise from behind them that made them all pause. One that sounded suspiciously like the removal of several buckles and the rustle of cloth against skin.

"Don't tell me. They're doing something weird again." Jounouchi groaned. "I'm not looking, I'm not looking, lalala..."

Mokuba and Noa looked instead, leaning around the blond. Yuugi almost drowned in 'Niisama's turtleneck and duster while Yuugi's sleeveless shirt was almost a man-bra on 'Niisama's broad frame. Both of them had the determined look of the very very drunk trying to appear sober as they looked at their cards.

Noa materialised a camera in his hand and took a picture. When Jounouchi didn't stop him, he took a few more.

"I want copies." Mokuba whispered before Jounouchi dragged them back out.

+++  
+++

Jounouchi walked in to find that the nature of the Duel had... changed somewhat during the time it took to escort Noa and Mokuba to the limo and back.

His first clue was the Rude Kaiser rutting with a Beaver Warrior instead of attacking it with it's twin axe blades.

"Um... Yuugi?" He ventured.

"Hiiiiiii, Jou~nou~chi-kuuuuuuuuun." Yuugi drawled happily, waving at him as he listed at an angle that would not have been possible for the sane. Jounouchi spared a brief wonder if it was because of Seto's coat of doom which almost seemed to keep upright him on the tiny raised platform.

"Hi, Yuugi." He smiled weakly back and waved. "Hi, Seto."

"Katsuya." Seto said with a great deal of dignity, shuffling a cardboard cutout of fish into his hand of cards.

"You two are completely drunk." He deadpanned.

"No." Yuugi and Seto declared with varying degrees of serious, sobriety and stability. "M'mot drunk!"

"Suuuuuure you're not... " Jounouchi drawled to himself, getting a hunch that this evening was going to be just a little bit more interesting than he'd previously thought. "... So, what are you doing?"

"Kaiba-kun said I could." Yuugi smiled, pointing somewhat in Seto's direction, if Jounouchi was reading the wobbly arm movements correctly. "Because he didn't like 'Chabbudai Kaeshi'."

"'Return a Low Dining Table' is not a honourable card." Seto informed them sourly, listing to the left.

"A low table appears under the monsters," Yuugi informed Jounouchi in what looked like it was supposed to be a conspiratorial manner but was anything but. "And flips hiiiigh up into the air. It destroys all of my monsters, then an equal number of the opponents monsters. Kaiba-kun's mad because not only did I have more monsters than him on the field, mine were all smallllllll little itty ones. So I still had life points left over his were all gone."

"Sounds like a deus ex machina to me." Jounouchi muttered before clearing his throat and speaking louder. "So now what are you playing?"

"Duel Monsters." Yuugi said as if it should be perfectly obvious. "But Kaiba-kun said that if I was gonna make schtuff up, I should make up fun stuff. So we did. See?"

Yuugi pointed to a Spear Dragon intertwined with Blackland Fire Dragon. "That was Kaiba-kun's idea. The one with the most attack points tops."

A Horned Imp ran by chasing a Mystic Horseman. Briefly, Jounouchi wondered why the centaur wasn't chasing, say, Mystical Elf, then dismissed the image from his mind.

"So what are you two duelling over this time?" Jounouchi asked, projecting as much of a calm, relaxed aura as he could. He was tranquil, he was serene, he was unruffled, he was cool, he was fine...

"You." Yuugi hiccupped.

.... He was completely lost. "Huh?"

"Winner gets to fuck you first." Yuugi informed him matter-of-factly.

"Hey." Seto frowned. "I thought winner gets a blow-job."

"We can do that too." Yuugi breezily assured Seto, nodding hard enough to pitch him forward.

"Huh?" Jounouchi repeated. He took off his headset and rubbed his ears, sure that he'd misheard that. "What?!"

"Kaiba-kun likes you." Yuugi said, swaying backwards. "But I like you too. So we were duelling over who gets to fuck you first. But Kaiba-kun says that the last duel wasn't a fair duel and I don't care how many times we kick his ass, so we're duelling again."

"And the loser gives the winner a blow-job." Seto reminded Yuugi.

"-And the winner gives the loser a blow-job." Yuugi agreed amiably. "So double win. How good are you at blow-jobs anyway, Kaiba-kun?"

Seto shrugged. Jounouchi felt his brain hurt.

...Yuugi liked him? -Liked- him liked him, like he and Seto liked each other? In a carnal way? Since when? Why had he not found this out before now?

How much sex had he missed out that he could have had before now?!

"Wait... wait... back it up." Jounouchi ran a hand through his hair, trying to get the thinking processes -out- of his pants. "I thought you two still didn't like each other."

"It works thusly." Seto said, summoning Peten the Dark Clown, who giggled and began eyeing the Mystic Horseman lasciviously. "The only person Katsuya is allowed to cheat on me with is Yuugi. Yuugi is not allowed to cheat on Katsuya. Except with me."

"And you?" Jounouchi questioned.

"I am a Kaiba." Seto informed them seriously. "Therefore I am not permitted to cheat on either of you." He didn't look terribly unhappy at that prospect. In fact, he looked downright smug over it.

"Right." Jounouchi said, rubbing his forehead. "Tell you what. The two of you come down from there and one of you can fuck me and I'll give a blow-job to the other one. Just not at the same time, okay?"

"Okay, Jou~nou~chi-kuuuun." Yuugi said easily. A little too easily. Jounouchi jerked his head up to look suspiciously at his best friend, who smiled back at him. Smirked. Leered.

Sweet innocent Yuugi, with whom Jounouchi had naively shared his porn with for years. Sweet innocent Yuugi who played a Strategy style deck. Sweet innocent Yuugi who'd just outmanoeuvred him before Jounouchi had realised that there was anything to manoeuvre.

.... fuck.

Literally.

"How shall we decide who gets what?" Seto inquired politely as Yuugi's monsters began to vanish from the field and Jounouchi's stomach landed somewhere about his feet.

"That's what Jun-Ken-Po is for." Yuugi informed him brightly.

"Best two out of three?" Seto asked as his monsters also vanished from the field.

"Perfect."

"What have the two of you been drinking?" Jounouchi questioned as his stomach returned back to it's usual location in time to tie itself into butterfly knots. "And how much have you had?"

"Tequila!" Yuugi beamed at him. "It tastes -really- bad at first, but after a while it's okay."

Jounouchi muffled a groan into his hand. When tequila started tasting good, that meant that it was time to STOP. "... And how much?"

"We finished a bottle together." Seto informed him, swaying in Jounouchi's direction as he put his deck away.

In other words, drinking contest. No wonder. Yeah, this night had just got to heck in a hand-basket hadn't it? Jounouchi sighed, running a hand through his hair again before putting his head set back on. "Right. So long as the plans are settled, why don't we head back to the house?"

"We could play here." Yuugi said cheerfully as the hydraulic platforms began their decent to the ground.

Riiiiiiight. Cause video camera surveillance and hard surfaces were your friend. "Beds, Yuugi."

"Ooooooooo." Yuugi grinned, a distant expression in his eyes as he swayed dangerously backwards, almost off the platform. "Okay."

Never allow Yuugi to drink anything ever again, Jounouchi made a mental note. Never. Never ever. Sure Yuugi was cute while tipsy, but he lacked any sort of survival instinct and that was Bad. With underscores and big sparkly letters. He really didn't want to think about the types of cards that were going to come out of tonight's adventure.

Jounouchi tried not to stare as Seto walked over towards him, hips swaying fluidly in his figure-hugging leather trousers, the extremely tight black shirt creeping up Seto's abdomen again, showing off his belly button. Bellllllly button... Seto had a navel.

Of course Seto had a navel, everyone had a navel and it wasn't like Seto was a cloned test tube baby but... He usually didn't get to -see- Seto's belly button. And it was flirting with him. Seto's belly button was totally flirting with him. Jounouchi nearly whimpered. This was so not fair. Why did he have to be the responsible one right now? If he was drunk too, he could do something about the belly button. Like lick it and watch Seto squirm. Or lick Seto's long elegant neck, which was freed from it's usual camouflage of the turtleneck. Or his partially naked collarbones...

Jounouchi quickly cleared his throat and glanced over at Yuugi, who was making his wobbly way over. "Yo."

"Hiiiiiiiii." Yuugi drawled happily, pitching forward and wrapping his arms around Jounouchi's waist. "Mmm.... warm."

"Thank you, Yuugi." Jounouchi smiled and patted his best friend's spiky hair. "Now please get your hand off my butt."

"Awwww." Yuugi pouted, but did so, his hand sliding back up north. Jounouchi jumped slightly as another hand, much larger hand replaced it, Seto making a pleased rumble in Jounouchi's ear as he suddenly appeared right next to him.

"You too, Seto." Jounouchi scolded. "Limo first, then home, then groping."

Seto smirked, leaning slightly against Jounouchi as he tried ushering the two drunks towards the door. Yuugi appeared to have about three left feet and no right feet, giggling and blushing madly as Jounouchi hauled him through the locker bay through the judicious use of an arm around the smaller man's waist. Seto stayed pressed against him as well, despite his ability to walk in a straight line regardless of how much he swayed.

Fortunately the limo driver was where Jounouchi had requested, right outside the side door with motor running. Jounouchi muttered a quick prayer of thanks as he opened the door, glanced in to make sure it was empty --no teenagers-- before tossing Yuugi in. Yuugi seemed to think that this was great fun, giggling madly as he bounced on the seat. Jounouchi pushed Seto and his briefcase in and quickly followed, shutting the door behind him as Seto settled his long limbs in the seat.

Jounouchi scrambled to the front of the car, accidentally losing the long coat around his waist on the way and tapped on the divider, which rolled down at his signal. "Could you run an errand for me?" Jounouchi asked, kneeling on the seat to talk as the car pulled away. The driver nodded, murmuring a polite acknowledgement. It was part of the driver's job, but Jounouchi always preferred to ask. "Thanks. Needja ta stop by a convenience store and pick up a couple big bottles of water, maybe some juice if you feel like it and some of those bottled vitamin drinks."

"Hangover cure?" The driver inquired with thinly veiled amusement.

"Yeah." He glanced back at his two charges for the night and found them propped up against each other, near identical sappy smug possessive smiles on their faces as they watched him. Or more appropriately, his bent over ass. Seto he wasn't surprised by. But it was kind of unnerving to see Yuugi -openly- checking him out.

"Yo, Kaiba." He quickly turned around in the seat and sat down. "Where's your wallet?"

"What is my name, Katsuya?" Seto corrected sternly, raising an admonishing finger.

"Right... Seto." Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. It was one thing to call your former boss by their name in the privacy of your shared living area. It was another to say it in public. Or where other people could hear it. "Where is your wallet?"

Seto smirked. "One of three places." He said loftily as Yuugi giggled softly. "One of my trouser pockets, one of the coat pockets, or my briefcase."

"... And it's in which one?" Jounouchi hesitantly ventured, mentally tallying up how much money he had in his pockets. Just under a thousand yen, which wasn't going to get much at the convenience store. A large bottle of water was a couple hundred yen, never mind the vitamins...

"I suppose you will have to check and discover for yourself, won't you?" Seto said, sounding way too pleased about the prospect. Yuugi giggled, a small grin growing on his face.

Greeeeeat. The fondness for games hadn't disappeared. Jounouchi sighed as he leaned forward, grabbing his long coat and refastening it around his waist before getting within arms reach of the two jokers. He couldn't check the briefcase of doom without the security code, which he didn't have. Which left either Seto's tight pants or the large white coat that Yuugi was currently buried in.

... pants first. They'd be easier. He leaned over Seto, who watched him with lustful half-lidded eyes as Jounouchi ran his hands up Seto's thighs, finding nothing in those pockets. Seto did have very nice, firm thighs however, which was doubtlessly the point of this game.

"Lift your hips up please." He requested, trying not to show how much this was affecting him. Seto did as he'd been bid, Jounouchi running his hands around the waistband, then down Seto's lean hips and the curve of his butt. Nothing. "Thank you." He said quickly, drawing back before he gave into temptation and explored further.

So not fair, so not fair, soooooo not fair. He swallowed and turned towards Yuugi, who was smirking at him, a challenging light in his violet eyes. This would be so much easier if he could just grab Yuugi by the ankles, turn him upside down and shake him until everything in his pockets fell out.

"I've got a wallet too~!" Yuugi gleefully informed him. "Wanna guess where it is?"

"Not right at this moment." Jounouchi muttered, leaning forward and patting the coat, and therefore Yuugi's small frame down. For a small skinny guy, Yuugi was surprisingly well built, which was not doing anything to help Jounouchi's currently frame of mind. He found an appropriately sized bulge on the right hand side, about Yuugi's waist level, which would be about chest high for Seto. He opened the coat and reached inside, ignoring Yuugi's ticklish squirming as he did so, finding the wallet and pulling it out.

He scurried back to the front of the limo to talk to the nice, safe, sane driver up front, ignoring the two chortling duellists in the back. He opened Seto's wallet and pulled out a couple of thousand yen notes and a note from Mokuba informing his 'Niisama that he owed him two hundred-yen coins, three fifty-yen coins, a twenty-yen coin and seven five-yen coins. And that Mokuba was keeping the two one-yen coins, okay?

Jounouchi put the note back. The Kaiba brothers were really weird. "Here." He said, passing the money forward to the driver. "Large bottles of water, vitamins, and juice. You can get one for yourself too, if you want. And if they have it, peanut butter sandwiches. Give me a receipt if you would too, I wanna shove this in his face later."

"No problem." The driver agreed. "Screen up or down?"

"Up, please." Jounouchi said dryly. "But I'll give a shout if I need help."

"Sure." The privacy screen went back up, much to Jounouchi's relief. He just -knew- that whole 'What's my name' thing was going to get around. At least Seto hadn't decided that he must be called 'Master' or something stupid like that.

"Sometimes I think you two are more trouble than you're worth." He muttered, scooting forward again, pausing at the mini-bar to pull out a couple of bottles of water. He thought about it a moment and pulled out a couple of air-sick bags as well, just in case. Some people didn't take well to limo rides and they worked just as well as drunk bags.

"Here." He instructed, opening the bottles and passing them to his drunken friends. "Drink."

Seto made a thoughtful sound and took the bottle, taking a careful sip. Yuugi frowned at him. "What if it's poisoned?"

"It's not poisoned." Jounouchi said, exasperated. That was what the water was for, to flush the poisons that alcohol created out of their system. "Look." He took a sip of the bottle and handed it to Yuugi. "Now you."

"Hee hee." Yuugi chortled, taking the bottle and clutching it to his chest like it was a favourite toy before taking a sip. "Indirect kiss."

One of Seto's eyebrows rose as Jounouchi felt a blush slide across his cheeks. He'd fallen for one of Yuugi's schemes again, dammit. "Now why didn't I think of that?" The tall duellist mused, eyeing Jounouchi.

Jounouchi glared back. "No."

"Perhaps later, then." Seto decided, drinking some more of his water. Jounouchi sighed, sitting down on the floor of the limo, feeling much older than his twenty-one years.

"You could join us up here, Jou~nou~chi-kuuun." Yuugi said, tilting away from Seto. "There's room."

"Not just yet." Jounouchi waved it off. "Finish your bottle of water first."

Yuugi eyed Seto's half-finished bottle speculatively. "No more drinking contests." Jounouchi scolded sternly. "If you throw up, you're the one who has to clean out the limo."

"We could lean out the window!" Yuugi helpfully offered. "Then it wouldn't be in the limo."

"I'd make you go back and -lick- it off the ground." Jounouchi growled.

"I do believe Katsuya is rather annoyed at us." Seto said mildly, reaching out and tugging the smaller duellist towards him. Yuugi made a sulky face as he leaned back against Seto, looking like a petulant child who wasn't allowed to play his favourite game. Jounouchi ignored it for the moment, taking the opportunity for a quick breather while they finished their water.

He still couldn't get his brain around Yuugi propositioning him. He'd known Yuugi for what? Five? Six years now? And he'd never known that Yuugi was interested in him. Hell, they'd pretty much shared a bed for a year, after Yuugi's Other Self left, still did on occasion, and he'd never seen any sign of Yuugi being interested in him as anything other than a close friend, or a brother.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. Yeah, sure he loved Yuugi. But he didn't know if he loved Yuugi like -that-.

However, he was sure of one thing. He didn't want to lose Yuugi, or their friendship. Heh. First letters of their names, 'Yu' and 'Jou', combined meant 'Unity' or 'Friendship'. He'd said that they were friends for life and he meant that, no matter what.

The limo pulled to a stop in front of a convenience store and the driver got out. "Huh?" Yuugi questioned, lifting his head and watching the driver walk into the small shop.

"I asked him to pick up a few things." Jounouchi said, feeling calmer, though no less confused. At least he could take care of them in the mean time. "Have either of you eaten since breakfast?"

Seto shrugged. Yuugi looked confused. Jounouchi was pretty sure Seto hadn't eaten lunch since Jounouchi had been nose deep in paperwork most of the day and therefore unable to chase him down and make him eat. And Yuugi he wasn't sure about, this was the first he'd seen of his friend all day. So therefore the Magic 8 Ball mostly likely read 'All Signs Point Towards No' or 'Question Hazy, Try Again Later'. "I'm going to take that as a 'No'." He remarked, running a hand over his head and messing up his hair.

Yuugi hiccuped in response and started humming something slightly off-key, mumbling occasionally. It took Jounouchi a little bit to catch the line 'And really bad eggs' before he realised that Yuugi was humming the theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Seto started joining in on the 'Yo-ho, Yo-ho' choruses and Jounouchi just let them be. At least it gave them something to occupy themselves with.

The driver knocked on the window a moment later and he slipped onto the seat next to Yuugi to roll down the window. "Here you go, sir." The driver said, handing him two plastic bags. "Water, juice, vitamins and they did have peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches."

"Thanks." Jounouchi grinned. This would hopefully make things in the morning slightly easier. It'd be best for their hangovers if they could purge themselves of the toxins tonight by throwing up the alcohol, but they were both big boys and should have known better. And Jounouchi didn't want to deal with them vomiting, so therefore they could deal with the consequences in the morning. But he would do his best to take some of the edge off tonight. "Did you get yourself a juice as well?"

"I got a canned tea." The driver nodded, then handed Jounouchi the change, wrapped up in the receipt.

"Good." Jounouchi smiled. It sucked buying for other people and not being able to get anything for yourself. "If you could take us the long way home, I'd really appreciate it." It would be easier to get food and water into them if they were trapped in the car instead of playing hide-and-go-seek all over the mansion.

"Of course." The driver nodded with an amused smile, tipping their hat slightly. "Oh yes, and this is for you, sir." The driver handed Jounouchi a separate, smaller bag.

"Huh?" Jounouchi took it and glanced inside. It was a disposable camera. He raised an eyebrow. The driver cleared their throat, subtly gesturing to both Seto and Yuugi, who were poking at the bags with child-like curiosity without actually opening them.

"For posterity, sir." The driver grinned and gave him a small tip of the hat before walking back up to the drivers seat. Jounouchi laughed as he rolled the window back up. It wouldn't even matter if he took any pictures, much less developed them, just the fact that -he- had a camera and -they- were drunk would give him blackmail material for years. Jokingly, of course. For the sake of their friendship.

"Here. Drink." Jounouchi opened the larger bottles of water and handed the bottles to them to drink before digging around for the sandwiches. It was the weirdest thing, but he'd noticed that the few times he'd drunk in the past that he craved peanut-butter sandwiches. But they were sweet and salty and protein and seemed to do the job, so he wasn't going to question it too much. There were a couple of cheap onigiri at the bottom as well which he was grateful to see. "We've got some sandwiches to share too." He informed them.

"Okay." Yuugi agreed, and then attempted to climb either into or over his lap. Unfortunately this coincided with the driver taking off, sending the small duellist sprawled all over Jounouchi.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi yelped, frantically grabbing the water bottle before it had a chance to spill. "What are you doing?!"

"Sharing." Yuugi hiccuped, sliding in-between Jounouchi and the door. "Jou~nou~chi-kuuun sandwich, see?"

"You did say us would join you after we finished our water bottles." Seto pointed out, the slurring dyslexic voice of reason.

Jounouchi muffled another sigh. He had, hadn't he? "All right." He agreed. "Seto, scoot over so we all fit comfortably. Yuugi, ditch the coat, would you? I don't think there's enough room back here for it."

"Okay~!" Yuugi grinned as he wiggled out of the long white coat as Seto smirked and slid over on the leather seats just enough so that Jounouchi could sit in the middle. Which he did, taking the bags with him and setting them on the ground between his feet. Yuugi giggled and snuggled up on his other side, cradling the water-bottle in his lap, Seto's coat discarded to the middle of the limo. "I can ditch the shirt too~!"

"No, that's okay." Jounouchi said quickly, unwrapping a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and thrusting it at Yuugi. "Eat that instead."

"Mou..." Yuugi sulked, poking at the sandwich, the long sleeves of Seto's shirt falling over his hands. "I'd prefer a hamburger."

He probably would, but they didn't have one handy and Jounouchi didn't entirely feel like going to get one. Jounouchi handing another sandwich to Seto. "Eat."

"Yes, Katsuya." Seto said obediently, the smirk on his face silently stating that the billionaire would prefer to be eating something other than the sandwich. Or someone. Someone next to him and blond. Jounouchi rolled his eyes and pulled out a sandwich for himself as well.

"You will worship the ground I walk on later for this." He assured Seto before taking a bite of his sandwich. Seto snorted, like he didn't believe it, but started to eat anyway. At least Jounouchi had Seto trained by now to eat what ever Jounouchi handed him. He poked Yuugi, who seemed to be more interested in dissecting the bread from the sticky-sweet goodness. "Eat. Or else."

Yuugi grumbled but began eating anyway, alternating with long draughts of water to clear the sticky peanut-butter out of his mouth. Jounouchi resisted the urge to smirk. It got both food and water into the small man. Double victory. Seto ate his with slow deliberation, also alternating with measured sips of his water bottle.

He waited until they had both managed to keep about half of their sandwiches down before pulling out the small brown bottles of liquid vitamins. He opened those as well and passed them to his friends to drink. Both made faces but dutifully gulped the liquid down as fast as they could, Yuugi making a face as he finished his. Jounouchi chuckled and handed him a juice to drink to clear the taste out. Which then led to Seto wanting one as well.

Jounouchi almost felt like it was a game between Seto and Yuugi... that Jounouchi had to treat them equally, give them equal amounts of attention. It was a game he wasn't particularly sure on the rules on, much less how to win. It was kind of making his head hurt because it was like they were in competition with each other, only not.

He sighed and leaned back in the seat, Seto pressed up comfortably on one side of him, Yuugi nustled against him on the other. Sharing a Jounouchi sandwich indeed. The other duellists were quiet and Jounouchi could see them coming off of the drunken high. Time for the crash.

Yuugi was the most noticeable one, he went from cuddling to actually leaning. "Jounouch'?" Yuugi asked softly, dropping the 'i' from Jounouchi's name like he usually did. Only it was usually a harsher clipped sound on the end, not a drunken mumble.

"Yeah, Yuugi?"

"I -hic- messed up, didn't I?" Yuugi said sadly, his head turned to stare out the window. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Jounouchi sighed, wrapping an arm around Yuugi's shoulders. "You're drunk, Yuugi." Funny, he thought tequila made people's clothes come off and wine that made people tell the truth. Wasn't it that Greek saying? V... v... v..., no wait, that was 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. That was Seto, not Yuugi.

Yuugi hiccuped. "But you're not." He pointed out, from the depths of supposed despair. "An' I won't remember much in the morning, but you will. And now I've given you a bad mammary."

"I think he means 'Memory'." Seto commented quietly, making boob groping motions on his own flat muscular chest. "Breasts don't have him."

"Shh." Jounouchi nudged Seto. He'd figured that out on his own, thanks. Although now he couldn't get the image of talking cleavage out of his head. "And no you didn't, Yuugi." He'd just been surprised a bit. More than a bit. A lot.

"Yes I did." Yuugi insisted. "But... you're going away too now. Like Ate -hic- my Other Self did an' I don't wanna let you go. So if I won and didn't... didn't.... then Kaiba couldn't either. And if we did -hiccup-, I thought maybe I could hold on to that little piece of you... even after you left." He laughed softly, almost bitterly. "It's stupid, I know. But I didn't say anything last... last... -hic- and I love you too and m'happy for you an' Kaiba-kun and I'm so afraid of ending alone again because it hurts and it sucks and I shouldn't have SAID anything because now you're gonna -hic- haaaate meeee..."

The last was said in a soft keening wail that almost broke Jounouchi's heart. Yuugi had played a Shadows, Silence and Toys deck since his last duel with his Other Self, because while the Shadows were a part of him, like they were a part of Atemu, he wasn't Chaos and Black Magic. He was Games and Toys and seeing everything but never saying what he saw. The best and worst parts of being a child really.

"I'm not going anywhere, Yuugi." He said softly, wrapping his arm around his small friend. "Best friends. I don't hate you and I'm not leaving."

Atemu had left, because no matter how much he had loved Yuugi, this was not his time or place. His had ended thousands of years ago. And his presence here had drawn trouble to them like huge fire-breathing moths to a bug zapper. By leaving and sealing the Sennen Items and the Shadow Games again, he had been able to finally bring some peace to those around him by setting down his swords. But by leaving, he'd ripped a chunk out of Yuugi. And Jounouchi knew that first hand.

"Yes, you are." Yuugi muttered miserably. "Everyone does. Honda doesn't come over since he moved in with Otogi unless it's to bitch about you... Anzu stopped talking to me after she started dating Mai. Bakura doesn't have time since he got together with Malik-"

"What?!" When had that happened?!

"... Or is Malik dating Rashid?" Yuugi mumbled, his speech becoming slower. "Rashid and Isis? I can't remember. Something. Massive orgy in Egypt. Foursome. What will the children look like? Anyway. Everyone finds someone else and they forget about me. And now you are... an' m'all alone again."

Jounouchi sighed. It was really hard to argue with drunks. They got the weirdest ideas in their head that had nothing to do with logic. And then would get stubborn about it. If it wasn't such a serious discussion he'd shift the discussion to something else. Like cats. "I don't know what to tell you, Yuugi." He finally said as Yuugi's eyes started to drift shut, still clutching the half full water bottle to his chest. "Except to show you that I'm not going anywhere. Okay?"

Yuugi made a soft mewling sound before his eyes closed, snoring softly as he fell asleep. The snoring would get louder later, but for the moment it was still muted. Jounouchi had never been able to figure out what was it about alcohol that made people snore like a herd of mating walruses.

"You knew, didn't you?" Jounouchi asked, leaning his head against the back of the seat and twining the fingers of his free hand with Seto's unusually warm ones. Seto squeezed his hand back, his own head against the back of the seat, eyes closed. Seto's belly button flirted with Jounouchi some more, but he ignored it.

"That he loved you as more than a friend? Yes." Seto said seriously. "We... talked. A while back. He did not know you for to wish."

... wish for you to know, Jounouchi mentally corrected. "So what do you get out of this?" Jounouchi asked, frowning. "Ya wouldn't orchestrate this without being able to profit from it." He liked Seto, really he did, but the business mogul was not exactly known for his altruistic motives.

Seto smirked, eyes still closed as he ran his thumb across Jounouchi's knuckles. "Ask me again tomorrow, and see we shall."

And now they had the wise words of Yoda. Great. He elbowed Seto in the ribs. "No falling asleep. I can't carry you up the stairs if you pass out."

"Then kindly request of the driver that we be taken to our palace of residence haste post." Seto drawled. "This is the third block we've been around the time."

"Right." Jounouchi removed his arm from around Yuugi, who fell onto Jounouchi's lap and drooled, to hit the intercom button. "Home, please."

"No problem, sir." The driver said briskly, making an abrupt turn.

"Thanks." Jounouchi sighed, closing his eyes for a minute. Yuugi snored louder, much to Seto's snickering amusement. Jounouchi debated nudging him again, then reached down and pulled the smaller bag out of the pile at his feet, retrieving the disposable camera.

"What doing are you?" Seto inquired as Jounouchi unwrapped the camera and snapped a shot of the sleeping businessman.

"Insurance." Jounouchi said briskly, before taking a quick picture of Yuugi drooling on his lap. He stretched an arm out, trying to get a shot with all three of them in it but wasn't sure if he got it or not. He took a couple more of both Seto and Yuugi, for future reference.

The driver pulled into the driveway of the Kaiba Mansion, waited a minute for the gates to open before smoothly driving up to the front and parking close to the front steps. "Thanks!" Jounouchi shouted as he climbed over Yuugi to open the door. He stuck the camera in his pocket and turned around to grab the sleeping duellist. Yuugi made shuffling noises in his sleep as he cuddled up to Jounouchi, some how gaining ten kilos in the manner of small children and pets seemed to as he did so.

Seto had an amused look on his face as he followed Jounouchi out, with a great deal more grace as he carefully placed his long limbs so as to not stumble. Which would be absolutely -terribly- improper for a Kaiba to do, of course. Jounouchi was privately convinced that there was a written list of commandments hidden somewhere in the house of things that 'Kaiba Were Not To Do'.

... evidently sex with cute blond guys with dog attributes wasn't one of those Not To Do things, thank the Seven Lucky Gods.

"Come on." He said motioning for Seto to follow him into the house. "Time for all good duellists to be in bed."

"And what about naughty ones?" Seto leered softly as they meandered up the stairs to the front door.

"Them too."

Seto smirked happily, in a smug 'I'm going to get laid' sort of way. Jounouchi rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that he probably had a similar expression on his own face, even if it wasn't happening tonight. Yet another down side to getting drunk, it was a sexual inhibitor.

They made it inside and up the grand staircase up to the second floor and staggered down the maze of corridors to Seto's bedroom. One of these days he really needed to get a golf cart up here for nights like this, it would make things so much easier.

"Toilet." Seto hiccupped as they made it inside Seto's large room, the brunette rushing off to the side towards the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind him and Jounouchi winced. Well, hopefully that meant the water had done it's job.

He set Yuugi down on the bed and after a moment's thought, began working on removing clothing. The boots went, followed by Seto's shirt, the belts and buckles. He debated for a minute, then pulled off the tight leather pants as well, leaving Yuugi just in his boxers. Although Seto was correct... how the hell did Yuugi wear boxers under tight leather trousers? Even if they were black silk with little tiny gold hieroglyphs all over them.

Seto stumbled back out just as Jounouchi finished pulling the blankets down. Seto made some sort of mumbled groan of gratitude as he then proceeded to fall face first onto the bed and began snoring. Jounouchi stared at him for a moment, then began working on removing his shoes and clothing as well. So not fair.

It turned out that Seto was wearing dark snug speedo-style underwear under his pants, with a small 'KC' logo on them, which was something that Jounouchi really could have gone his entire life without knowing. Seto was just a little bit -too- invested in his company sometimes. Actually, it was probably a good thing that he hadn't discovered the logo thing that -years- ago because he never would have let Seto live it down.

It took more effort to get Yuugi's tiny top off of Seto's broad frame, but he eventually managed it. Although the stretched out shirt was never going to be the same.

Convinced that they weren't going anywhere for a while, he covered them up with the blankets and turned to go change into his own pyjamas. He stopped before he got to the doorway, went back and pulled the blankets back down, took a few pictures of the sleeping duellists, covered them back up and went to his room to change clothes.

It momentarily threw him, walking into his own room and finding it actually clean for a change, even though he had been the one to do it over the course of the week. He took care of that by taking some of the clothing he had left behind and throwing it around the room so it had that 'lived in' feel to it again before changing out of his clothing. It felt so good to ditch the heavy clothing.

His mood improved by being -home- and wearing just pyjama pants, he wandered across the hall to knock on Mokuba's door. There was a slight pause and then Noa opened the door, the virtual boy yawning as he did so. "Just checking in." Jounouchi whispered.

"Everything okay?" Mokuba questioned from the bed, a few books and papers scattered across it.

"Yeah. They just passed out. Thanks for taking yourselves home." Jounouchi smiled, slipping inside and ruffling Noa's hair. "Everything cool here?"

"Yup." Mokuba stretched and Jounouchi noticed with some amusement that Mokuba's current sleep shirt was an old threadbare t-shirts he'd stolen from Jounouchi a while back that said 'One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor' on it. "Finishing up a bit of homework and a few dastardly plans. You okay?"

"Just trying to figure out what your brother's up to." Jounouchi smiled crookedly.

Mokuba laughed. "Good luck with that." Mokuba was the closest person to Seto and even he had trouble following his brother's train of thought on occasion.

"We're going to make an early night of it." Noa said quietly, leaning against Jounouchi's arm. "Been a stressful couple of weeks."

That was a definite understatement. "Yup. Your brother and Yuugi are probably going to wake up in the morning hung-over and hurting, so feel free to break out the jumping up and down and the percussion instruments to wake them up."

"I feel like fried foods for breakfast." A look of pure devilment briefly flickered Mokuba's face before being replaced by a mask of angelic innocence. "Bacon and onions. How about you, Noa?"

"I have a copy of Tchaikovosky's Overture of 1812." Noa said thoughtfully. "And access to the mansion-wide intercom and sound-system."

Jounouchi grinned. Gods, the boys were brats. But they were -his- brats, and he was damn proud of them. "Just for a little while guys. Don't want to actually torture them to death. Although we may need you in the office tomorrow, depending on how bad the hangover is."

"Already re-arranging his schedule." Mokuba assured him. "He's got a pretty light day tomorrow anyway, it shouldn't be a problem if he goes in sometime around the early afternoon."

"Thanks, Mokuba." Jounouchi relaxed slightly. It was always good to know that there was someone watching their back.

"No problem." Mokuba waved it off. All part of the job being part of the Kaiba household. "Go crash or something, you get to deal with them in the morning anyway."

"Yeah, thanks." Jounouchi muttered darkly. He gave Noa a one-armed hug, since Noa always seemed to be starved for hugs and waved to Mokuba, who didn't seem to need them quite as much. "Sleep well you two. Call me if you need anything."

"G'night Jounouchi." Mokuba waved back with fond exasperation. "See you tomorrow."

"Pleasant dreams." Noa hugged him back before releasing him and floating back towards the bed to hover around Mokuba's shoulders. Jounouchi grinned and let himself out. He sighed, making a quick mental list of things to grab before crashing.

He made a quick trip to the kitchen to find a couple of pitchers, fill them with ice and a grab a couple of glasses.Then he raided some of the guest-rooms for empty wastebaskets that didn't have the wire mesh sides before returning to Seto's room. He set one wastebasket on either side of the bed just in case someone couldn't make it to the bathroom in time, then filled up the pitchers with water and set those next to the bed as well.

After a moment's thought, he checked the medicine cabinet for painkillers that didn't have tylenol or acetominophen in them. Having one's liver explode on them from acute alcohol poisoning was -not- a good thing, although he had been damn tempted to pull it on a couple of people when he was younger. Taking a couple of advil or ibuprofen before they went to bed probably would have helped with their hangovers, but it'd been a couple of years since he'd had to deal with drunks and he hadn't remembered at the time. Oh, well.

Preparations complete, or as complete as they were going to get at the moment, Jounouchi crawled into bed between his two sleeping friends and curled up to sleep. He took a deep breath and relaxed as both Yuugi and Seto moved closer towards him, seeking bodyheat.

He was home, he was safe, his friends and family were safe, he was home...

And his brain proceeded to run in circles for the next several hours, trying to untangle the question of Seto, Yuugi and himself.

 

+++  
+++

 

When Seto woke up, he was feeling uncomfortably warm. Part of that was due to the fact that he was plastered up against Katsuya's warm body. Part of it was the fact that he was feeling like he was sick, flushed and feverish. He couldn't be sick again.

Then he heard more than felt the sound of someone climbing out of bed and rushing to the bathroom before being violently ill.

Next to him, Katsuya groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. Therefore by process of elimination, it was not Katsuya in the bathroom being violently ill.

Hooray for logic.

Katsuya mumbled something, the noise muffled by the pillow. Seto nudged him with an elbow. "What?" He was vaguely startled to realise how thick his voice sounded. And his mouth felt strangely fuzzy, like a winged Shining Friendship had died a horrible gruesome death in it. Blargh.

The pillow rose, Katsuya looked blearily at him from under the padded blue fabric. "It's morning." The blond complained.

"Yes." Seto agreed. "Yes, it is." Well past the time his alarm usually went off, if he was not mistaken.

Katsuya glared at him before snarling. "Do you have ANY idea how loudly the two of you SNORE?"

... Two? Seto thought about it. Two. Seto, Katsuya and...

Memory returned. Katsuya was staying. They'd kissed. Finally. Yuugi had come to visit with a bottle of Tequila and things got slightly fuzzy around the edges from then on. He and Yuugi finishing off the bottle of Tequila. Duelling. The ride home. The three of them falling asleep in the bed.

... He wasn't wearing any pants. How strange. He didn't remember removing his trousers.

"How much of last night do you remember?" Katsuya asked.

Seto thought about it. "Everything except for my pants."

"Yeah." Katsuya propped himself up on one elbow, running a hand over his hair. "That was me."

"Ah." Seto sat up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The blond sat up and stretched. "Did you mean it? What you said last night?"

Seto thought about it some more. It was there, he was just processing slower than normal. "Ah. The agreement." He nodded. "Yes. The only person that we have sex with other than each other is Yuugi. And he only has sex with us." It made sense to him.

"Yeah. I got that part." Katsuya gave him an amused crooked grin that should have been sarcastic but somehow felt fond. "But... why Yuugi?"

"Why not?" Seto looked at him as the grin faded. "Would you rather not?"

The silence stretched to the point that it was starting to making Seto nervous. "... I never thought about it." Katsuya finally admitted. "I mean, I've thought about it, but... not really, y'know."

Oh, yes. Only too well. Previously about the man sitting next to him now. Wondering what it would feel like to do more than -look-, but not daring to actually consider the prospect past wishful dreaming. And he could touch now. He could do more than touch now, if they felt like it. Seto slid his hand over, finding Katsuya's. The blond smiled back, just a curve of his lips, as he twined his fingers with Seto's.

Despite his slower brain power, Seto felt like he could take over the world. Of course, he generally felt like he could take over the world, but at this moment it felt like it would be easy to do so.

"When we were younger, Yuugi forced me to look at him, until he was all I could see." Seto admitted slowly. He didn't like talking about himself at all, but as he was slowly learning, sometimes you had to share. "I will admit, I... entertained some thoughts."

Katsuya stared at him for a moment. "... So the whole Battle City thing was because you wanted Yuugi to suck on your Obelisk?"

Seto considered that for a moment. "I suppose it could be interpreted that way."

This caused the blond to chortle, his shoulders relaxing. "Okay."

"Okay?" Seto echoed.

"Okay." Katsuya smiled at him, that small curve of the lips again. "You want me. I want you. Yuugi also wants me, you also want Yuugi. I don't know how he feels about you, you two are the master schemers, we'll work it out somehow. There's water next to you."

He had not realised until Katsuya said something how thirsty he was. "I will thank you by not inflecting the horror that is my breath upon you for the moment."

"... Thanks." Enhanced olfactory sense and all that. Katsuya squeezed his hand and and let it go, allowing Seto to roll over and pour himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the night stand. Plain water had almost never tasted this good. He glanced behind him and realised that Katsuya was watching him, eyes half-lidded in a thoughtful way.

A slight shiver ran up his spine as he realised that Katsuya wasn't just watching him, he was Watching Him. As in admiring what he was looking at and Seto found himself strangely conscious of the fact that he really wasn't wearing much of anything at all. Which normally would have prompted grabbing a robe to cover himself, but instead he found himself preening slightly.

It did not hurt that Katsuya himself was shirtless, and Seto had permission to admire all of the blond's tan golden skin without the need for subterfuge. Oh, yes. He liked this new arrangement.

The bathroom door opened and Yuugi slipped out, the smaller duellist looking ill and just the slightest bit hopeful that Katsuya and himself were still asleep. That hope met a quick and painful death. "Um." Yuugi not-quite-squeaked. "Has anyone seen my pants?"

Not the question Seto had anticipated. Although strangely familiar.

"Mokuba stole them this morning before he went to school." Katsuya filled in, looking amused. "I'm under orders to watch over the two of you today."

"Oh." Yuugi looked crestfallen.

Katsuya tapped Seto's shoulder. "He re-arranged your schedule so you don't have to go in until one or two. You've got time to get to feeling better."

Plenty of time. "Actually..." After little more than half a bottle of tequila, he should be feeling like Yuugi looked. "I feel strangely fine. Just a little hot."

Katsuya openly leered at the comment while Yuugi let out a soft groan, muttering something that probability dictated was quite rude. "Can I go die now?" He finally plaintively asked.

"Nope." Katsuya grinned, patting the bed next to him. "You're going to come over here and let Seto have the bathroom for a bit."

The blond duellist had a sadistic streak. Seto admired that quality in his soon-to-be lover. He took this as his cue to finally rise from the bed and stumble as elegantly as possible to the bathroom. Yuugi watched him with wide eyes as Seto approached, eyes flickering over Seto's body as he did so, a faint blush forming on Yuugi's pale cheeks. Seto sent Katsuya a quick amused look, one that the blond returned.

"Yuugi." Katsuya called, a mixture of patience and amusement as he held out a hand. "Come here. Ya kinda needs ta move so he can get in."

"Um. Right. Yeah." Yuugi nodded, then grimaced as the motion obviously hurt his head. He skittered past Seto, pointedly putting some effort to -not- look at the only small piece of clothing Seto was currently wearing. Katsuya muffled a laugh as Yuugi did so, and he imagined that Yuugi must look very small and shy beside himself.

But then Yuugi's strengths weren't of the physical sort. Not that the physical was displeasing to look at either.

"How much do you remember of last night?" He heard Katsuya's voice, rough and warm as he reached the bathroom.

Strained silence before he heard Yuugi's soft voice. "Some." A slight pause, followed by a heart-broken; "Enough."

He closed the door to allow them some privacy to talk without his presence. He took his time in the bathroom, feeling better after having emptied his bladder --one never truly owned alcohol, merely rented it-- and splashing some water on his face. He was somewhat surprised to look at his reflection and realise that there was a faint bit of steam coming off his body where he had splashed it, despite the fact that the water itself was not that hot.

Seto dismissed it from his mind and found his toothbrush, setting about cleaning his teeth with a vigour, removing the scuzzy feeling from them. After which he drained several more glasses of water as much for the re-hydrating properties as for a delaying tactic. He looked at the robe on the back of the door and debated putting it on as he did so, feeling slightly naked without his layers of clothing, then decided against it. The other two didn't have robes either.

And he really did feel oddly warm.

When he opened the door again, Yuugi was sitting in-between Katsuya's legs, the two of them snuggling together. The reigning King of Games still looked hungover, but there was a calmer, intelligent, calculating look back in his eyes.

"A question for you." Seto said as he moved towards the bed and that welcoming image. Yuugi looked at him, one eyebrow raised in silent query. "Last night you swore frequently by Tenenit. Who, or what, is Tenenit?"

Yuugi relaxed as Seto walked around the bed to his usual side. "Tenenit is the Egyptian Goddess of Beer." Yuugi smiled, more of a shame-faced grimace. "I thought she might be more merciful than Sesmu, the God of Wine. He's also the God of Execution, Slaughter and Blood."

"Delightful." Seto deadpanned as he sat down on the bed. "And was she?"

"No." Yuugi sulked. Katsuya snickered, hugging the smaller duellist to his chest as he did so. The blond looked happy, almost giddy as he looked at Seto.

"I take it the two of you have talked and reached a conclusion?" Seto aimed the remark at Katsuya.

"Yup. We've got a plan." To his surprise, both Katsuya and Yuugi leaned forward, kissing him on either side of his lips before Yuugi scrambled out of the bed as Katsuya smirked at him. "You're gonna stay here for a minute and keep the bed warm while I find Yuugi a toothbrush he can keep here." Morning breath was one thing and could be overlooked. Hangover breath was an entirely different and vile creature entirely.

"And then?" Seto inquired as Katsuya rolled out of the bed as well, joining Yuugi at the door.

Katsuya gave him a grin that was just this side of predatory, one that made Seto's temperature rise a few more degrees. Especially when Yuugi gave him a similar look, only slightly more mischievous than hungry. "And then we're coming back here and continuing this 'discussion'." Yuugi promised. "In Bed."

Seto smiled back. He approved of this plan.

He approved of this plan very much.

 

+++  
+++

 

"You look..." Mokuba hesitated on the word. 'Well fucked' didn't quite fit and neither did 'relaxed'. "... Smug." Yes. Smug worked nicely. Like the dog who had finally gotten a bone.

Jounouchi smiled back, a lazy happy expression, but didn't bother to verify it as he lounged in the back of the limo on the way to the Tower from school. He didn't really need to, his grin was enough. Enough for Mokuba to grin back and relax into the leather of his seat. A happy ending for everyone. Yay. Noa just looked at them both and shook his head.

"And thank you two for leaving the kitchen smelling like onions and bacon grease this morning." Jounouchi wrinkled his nose at them. "Hadn't realised that Yuugi could run that fast. Without, y'know, some horrible gruesome death chasing after him."

Mokuba shared an evil grin with Noa. They hadn't pulled any of the pranks that they had originally planned, but they had to do -something- to pay the older boys back for getting stupidly smashed. "It didn't bother 'Niisama?"

"I think he burned off the alcohol fairly quickly." Jounouchi said ruefully. "No real hangover, just a little slower in the brainpower department than normal. Yuugi got hit hard though, it'll prolly be another day before the headache completely fades."

Mokuba winced. Poor Yuugi. Although what he had seen of drunk Yuugi was amusing. "Going to give me a lecture on the evils of drinking now?" He inquired.

"Nah. You're smart enough to realise it's not the drinking, but how much you drink." Jounouchi gave him a fanged grin. "Of course, if I ever catch you as drunk as those two last night, I -will- make your hangover a living hell."

"Got it."

"Good."

Jounouchi was sometimes scary when he was being all protective. Not scary like 'Niisama, but a different kind of scary. A type of scary that had a sense of humour.

"So is everything okay between you and Seto?" Noa asked, changing the subject. Mokuba did so adore his other brother. "Besides the obvious?"

"Actually..." The grin faded from the bodyguard's face as he glanced around the enclosed car. He leaned forward, fingers loosely intertwined, which meant the blond was serious since he wasn't talking with his hands. "Question for you. Your brother waved it off, but I still wanna know."

"Oh?" Mokuba shared a look with Noa, both of them raising their eyebrows. "What's up?"

"Is it going to damage Kaiba Corporation if it ever got out who your brother was sleeping with?" Jounouchi asked, his face a mask of nervous concern. "M'not planning on advertising it, and Kai- Seto said it didn't matter, and I don't think it does to him. He's always been one to do what he wants, screw the consequences. But I'm still kinda worried about what it might do to the company."

There were times when Mokuba remembered that underneath Jounouchi's mop of blond hair and laid-back attitude, that there was a brain working there. One that had learned the tips and tricks of their business very well. Sometimes a little too well.

"It'll be better if it's not discovered for a while." Noa said carefully, sounding things out while Mokuba pondered the question. "If it's a stable established relationship for many years, it'll cause fewer waves than if it's a newer one."

Mokuba nodded. For one thing, it would give it time for it to leak out and become unspoken public knowledge, which meant it wouldn't be as big of a shock. "In the big picture, it probably won't change things all that much. Things might be a little rocky at first if it comes out, some businesses may decide that they don't want to work with us, but others may want to do business because of it. Depends on the person and the company. Globally, it'll probably be taken better in Europe than in America."

"But it wouldn't cause a disaster." Jounouchi said, as if verifying it for himself.

"We wouldn't let it be." Noa said simply as he shrugged. Mokuba nodded in agreement. After Big Five, Industrial Illusions and Doma, it wasn't like they didn't have fall back plans in case of emergency. Many many fall back plans. For everything from Alien invasion to Zombie Attacks to another Atlantis uprising and everything in between.

... With their life, they kind of had to.

"Okay." Jounouchi nodded and let out a breath, his shoulders relaxing. He smiled at them, looking slightly embarrassed. "Thanks."

"Welcome." Mokuba smiled back. Besides, it wasn't like they were just going to let him go -now-. It was too late, the blond was stuck with them. Heh.

"Thank you for asking." Noa added. Jounouchi was worrying about this sort of stuff, putting 'Niisama and Kaiba Corporation ahead of ignoring everything outside of the bedroom, which was a major point in Mokuba's book. Relationships were hard enough without bringing the Kaiba Corporation and everything else into it.

"Don't think just cause I like you and think you're good for 'Niisama this means I'm going to start calling you 'Mom' or anything." Mokuba scolded. 'Niisama had raised him since he was three years old, he didn't need a surrogate parent now. Even if he didn't mind Jounouchi fussing over him.

"Nah." Jounouchi slumped back in the seat. "I think Yuugi would be more 'Mom' than I would."

... Wait.... Yuugi?

... MOM?!

"Didn't I tell you?" Jounouchi grinned lazily at him, mostly friendly teeth. "The -three- of us got together."

Mokuba had totally not seen that one coming.

 

+++  
+++

 

"Ah, there you are Yuugi." Jiichan's gravely voice startled Yuugi as he attempted to sneak back into his room unnoticed. "I was wondering where you were."

... Somethings never changed no matter how old someone got, Yuugi mused darkly to himself. Getting caught by the people who raised you while trying to sneak into your room still made you feel six years old. "Hi, 'Jiichan." He smiled. "I spent the night at Kaiba-kun's."

'Jiichan snorted, looking like he was too old to fall for anything that Yuugi might try to pull. "And who is the lucky lady?" 'Jiichan leered fondly. "People don't smile like that unless they're in love. Or just got laid. Or both."

Yuugi blushed. "'Jiichan!" He did -not- need to be hearing that from his Grandfather! And it hadn't been a girl at all.

"Well?" 'Jiichan grinned back. "Which is it?"

"None of your business." Yuugi muttered, ducking his head.

"Ah-hah! I was right!" 'Jiichan did a quick happy dance. "Was starting to wonder if you'd ever find someone to date!"

"'JIICHAN!!"

"What? I was worried about you." 'Jiichan said, completely unrepentant. "So? Who is it?"

"I don't kiss and tell." Yuugi informed him before continuing his not-so sneaky way up the stairs. 'Jiichan followed.

"Let's see... Anzu-chan's still in New York... Was it that nice Mai girl? She's very well endowed."

He -really- did not need to be hearing this from his Grandfather. Especially when he still wasn't completely over this stupid hangover. He put his hands over his ears, trying to block the noise. "No."

"Or what about-"

"No! la-la-la-la~" Yuugi sang as he walked down the hall. His mother poked her head out of her room and glanced at them.

"Yuugi got lucky last night!" 'Jiichan cheerfully informed her.

"Oh." 'Kaachan said. "Did you use protection?"

Yuugi clapped a hand over his eyes. "'Kaa~chan!!"

"What?" His mother shrugged and ducked back inside her room.

"It is a valid concern nowadays." 'Jiichan mused thoughtfully, one hand stroking his beard. "Did you?"

"Yes." Yuugi growled and continued to his room. Jounouchi had been adamant about it for what little they had done, for their protection because Jounouchi wasn't entirely sure or comfortable at what might be sleeping in his blood stream. Not just from his mutations, but from anything he might have inadvertently picked up during his wilder years before he met them.

"Good." 'Jiichan nodded, following him. Yuugi stepped into his room and shut the door. 'Jiichan opened the door and followed him in, shutting the door behind him. "Was it Jounouchi-kun?" He asked gravely.

"I..." Yuugi froze, swallowing. He clenched his fist, heart falling somewhere around his stomach, making him feel ill again. "Is it a problem? If it is?"

"Does he love you?" 'Jiichan inquired.

They hadn't discussed that part. There had been the duel last night, getting over the worst of the hangover, making out on the bed, which had progressed nicely, -very- nicely, until Kaiba had to go to work. Then he and Jounouchi had dozed until Jounouchi had to pick Mokuba up from school and Yuugi had made his way home.

But there really hadn't been a lot of conversation.

"I think so." He said softly. Perhaps not like he loved Jounouchi, or Jounouchi loved Kaiba, but it was there.

"Hmmm." 'Jiichan mused. "I thought Jounouchi was going after Kaiba."

"He did." More like vice versa, but close enough.

"And Kaiba turned him down?" 'Jiichan questioned, his frown deepening.

"No." Yuugi smiled slightly. Far from it.

'Jiichan was silent for a long time, his face an unreadable carved mask and Yuugi felt his spirits fall as the silence stretched. If he needed to, he could move out of the Kame Game Shop. He did have those stocks from Kaiba Corporation. But then what would he do, if he wasn't taking care of the Game Shop?

Eventually 'Jiichan spoke up. "You know, I had hoped for Great-Grandchildren at some point in the future."

"Sorry, 'Jiichan." Yuugi mumbled. It was probably disappointing to his Grandfather. 'Jiichan had been expecting a nice girl, someone Yuugi could settle down with, have kids and raise them to be gamers. Not to sleep with two men, his rival and his male best friend.

"Are you happy?" 'Jiichan asked gently. Yuugi could only nod, his throat closing up. It was selfish of him, but yes, he was happy with this. And he would hold on to his happiness with his own two hands for all he had too. 'Jiichan patted him on the shoulder before opening the door. "That's all I care about."

"Thank you." Yuugi said softly.

"Of course...." 'Jiichan added thoughtfully as the door swung shut behind him. "I may have to have a talk with that Kaiba fellow...."

Oh, dear. Perhaps he should warn Kaiba.

Then again....

+++  
+++

Mokuba sighed as he sat down in his new homeroom. School again. Oh, goodie. Another year of looking forward to perpetual boredom, boring classmates and stupid teachers. At least this year would be his last year of High School, after this he was off to college.

He really hoped that college was going to be more interesting. Or at least challenging. He could easily see himself snapping like his brother had, taking to wearing long coats with big buckles and laughing maniacally at the fools below him.

Okay, so 'Niisama wasn't -quite- that bad, but the sentiment was there.

People swarmed in around him, talking and finding seats near their friends. Satoshi was in his class this year and he was somewhat pleased to see the gamer take a seat near his. Not close enough for people to think that they were good friends, but close enough to pass notes if they wanted.

Then the teacher had come in and the usual 'beginning of the school year' things started. Roll was taken, people who were in the wrong classroom were shuffled out, other people were shuffled in and the seats were re-orgainsed to alphabetical order.

Which never lasted for very long, but it was part of the routine. Mokuba spent most of the time looking outside the window, debating the likelihood of getting 'Niisama out of the offices for a picnic watching the cherry blossoms. The Kaiba Corporation yearly spring celebration had been last week, but 'Niisama never made it to those. It wasn't so much that 'Niisama thought it a waste of time, it was that spending time with a bunch of brown-nosers wasn't something that 'Niisama enjoyed.

But a private picnic, with just 'Niisama, himself, Noa, Jounouchi and Yuugi, that he might be able to talk 'Niisama into. And he and Noa could probably find some excuse to wander off for a while to let the other three make out.

That still kind of hurt his head. How did that work!? It was hard enough just kissing one person, nevermind two at the same time. But he supposed that it probably would take both Yuugi and Jounouchi to keep 'Niisama in line when he wasn't around.

The teacher called a student who was new to the area up to the front of the class for introductions. Mokuba listened with half an ear until the student spoke, causing the other students to whisper excitedly to each other.

"My name is Mutou Katsuya." The new student introduced himself with a polite bow. He had shaggy dark brown hair, the same colour as 'Niisama, intelligent brown eyes and was completely unremarkable except for his spiky blond bangs. Spiky blond bangs that seemed to be a genetic trait that he'd only previously seen on Yuugi and his 'Jiichan. "Pleased to meet you."

Hands shot up in class as the murmurs continued unabated. "Are you related to Mutou Yuugi?" A girl asked before the teacher had time to finish pointing at her.

"Yes." The new kid nodded. "In fact, I'm staying with him while I am in Domino." The classroom buzzed with this information. The King of Games was still a major celebrity in town.

Mokuba tapped the table with the eraser end of his pencil. Interesting. He would have thought he'd heard about any company staying over at the Kame Game shop from Yuugi before now. He watched the new kid with narrowed eyes as he answered various questions.

The new kid was interested in Gaming, but not Duelling. His hobbies were games, especially role playing ones, and electronics. He didn't listen to a lot of music, but he liked action movies. And his favourite colour was blue-grey.

Mokuba's eyes narrowed as he listened. He knew the answers to these questions before the new kid answered them.

He -knew- this guy.

New Kid seemed fairly nervous about all the attention he was getting, especially when the girls squealed over him. Finally the teacher excused him back to his seat... Next to Mokuba.

Mokuba raised an eyebrow as the new kid approached. "Hi." The brown-haired boy offered his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Mokuba gave him a cool smirk back. "We've met." He said curtly, turning his attention towards the window. The students buzzed. Mokuba usually didn't just snub people like that.

He ignored the new student for the rest of the day, keeping his interactions curt and brief. The other students in class, having access to someone new who was related to a celebrity more than made up for the slack.

School finally finished and he made his way to where Jounouchi was waiting for him, leaning up against the wall near the entrance. It was Monday, so they didn't have to worry about the weekly potential kidnappers today. "Yo." Jounouchi greeted him with a wave, pushing himself off the wall to walk beside Mokuba.

"Yo, yourself." Mokuba commented. Jounouchi opened the door to the limousine for him and they slipped inside, the limousine pulling away. Jounouchi gave him an openly concerned look, catching on to Mokuba's sullen mood.

"Noa." Mokuba called, sliding the projector onto his arm and activating it. The transparent image of his other brother appeared on the seat next to him. Mokuba pounced on him, ignoring the fact that he passed right through Noa's body.

"WHEN DID YOU GAIN THE ABILITY TO GO TO SCHOOL?!" He demanded, attempting to throttle his green-haired brother, out of annoyance or joy.

Noa laughed as he flickered then slipped through Mokuba's fingers, ghosting to the other side of the limousine. Noa's hair style and eye colour changed, into that of 'Mutou Katsuya'. "Yesterday, actually." Noa grinned. "Seto surprised me, he'd enrolled me already and everything. Yuugi-san's my 'Legal Guardian' while I'm going to Domino High, since 'Kaiba Noa' is already known on the news."

Which meant that Noa couldn't go to school as a Kaiba. "A Kaiba hiding behind a Jounouchi and a Mutou." Mokuba snickered. "You're like their bastard child or something."

"Oi." Jounouchi protested, but he was grinning. Mokuba shot him a dark look and Jounouchi shrugged. "I didn't know either. Yuugi and 'Jiichan were in on it though."

"Seto rigged the school with Solid System projectors over the break as a 'Technological Upgrade'." Noa explained. "I can't take P.E. due to Physical Limitations, mainly the shower rooms, but other than that, I can go pretty much anywhere on the grounds. It's an experiment on Seto's part, to see if the Solid System is that realistic."

It would be a huge feather in for Kaiba Corporations' hat if it was revealed after Noa graduated that a hologram had completed school. It'd probably be somewhat of a scandal, but they could spin that publicity into a positive light.

"Sweet." Mokuba grinned. "You do of course realise that I'm going to be grumpy at you while we're at school, right? Us Kaiba have to maintain the rivalry with the Mutou."

Jounouchi leaned over and swatted Mokuba's head. "You make it sound like you're rivalling families. Duelists of the Roses or something."

"Nah." Mokuba grinned. "It's just fun. And look where it got 'Niisama and Yuugi. And you." He added as an after thought.

Noa made a choking sound, like he'd just swallowed a frog. Mokuba shot him a concerned look and Noa waved it off. Mokuba shrugged. "Besides, it's fun!"

That Noa agreed with, nodding vigorously. "Yup!"

Mokuba grinned. This year of school was going to -rock- so damn hard.

+++  
+++

Mutou Sugoroku was a Genius.

Of course, Seto already knew this. Anyone who could inspire such a love of gaming in Yuugi couldn’t be anything less. But he had to admire the sneaky way that the old man hand responded to Seto’s offer of a friendly game of chess, and then delicately drill Seto on just what his intentions were towards his grandson.

It was a strategy he was going to have to remember for when Mokuba starting bringing dates home. If he were a lesser man, he probably would have crumbled ages ago, instead of carrying on a battle of wits, both verbally and on the chessboard. Sugoroku was certainly no slouch when it came to strategy.

He debated Sugoroku’s question about what his intentions were for Yuugi in this recent courtship of theirs. On a professional level, he wanted to continue duelling with the ‘King of Games’. On a business level, he wanted to continue to collect and distribute the cards that the former embodiment of the Pharaoh created. On a personal level, he wanted Yuugi’s company, to watch his back when things got hectic, and for the quiet times when there were no enemies to fight. And on a purely carnal level, he wanted Yuugi in his bed. As often as possible. Preferably with Jounouchi.

He wanted much the same things from Jounouchi as well. Someone loyal at his back he could trust when the faeces hit the proverbial fan, and for when the shit wasn’t flying. The fact that they all enjoyed each other’s company did not hurt either.

”Nothing… honourable.” He said, answering Sugoroku’s question as he moved a rook. Not that he thought Yuugi would have any problems with that. The old man looked at him with a startled look for a moment, before his eyes narrowed and he frowned, readying for another volley.

Seto smirked, delaying the next attack. “And Checkmate.” He pointed out with not a small sense of self-satisfaction as the old man’s face fell as he realised that Seto had him soundly defeated on the board.

Sugoroku may have been a Genius, but as Mokuba had previously proclaimed before, Seto was a SUPER Genius.

+++  
+++

Mokuba barely made it to the waiting limousine before breaking down in laughter. Noa wasn't much better, re-appearing in the limousine, curled up in a ball in mid-air, clutching his ribs as he howled. Jounouchi just rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind them, the limousine pulling away from the kerb and into traffic.

"What'd ya do?" The bodyguard asked, his tone torn between with long-suffering patience and barely concealed amusement.

Mokuba pointed at his green haired brother. "It's all his fault!" He cackled.

"Nah-uh. You started it!" Noa wiped his eyes with back of a hand. "'Kuba-chan'." The nickname was added with a teasing drawl.

"Ohhh, yeah." Mokuba snickered. Jounouchi raised an eyebrow and Mokuba swallowed his laughter long enough to explain. "You know how when girls are being all embarrassingly cutesy they sometimes take the first character of someone's name and add '-chan' to the end, right? Well, we were playing against each other on the handhelds, and I went tell Noa he was playing like a girl-" Not that playing like a girl was a -bad- thing, he certainly knew his share of kick-ass female duellists "-but if I do that, it makes him 'Ka-chan'."

Jounouchi snickered. "Yeah. Not a good nickname."

Calling your brother 'Mom' wasn’t exactly cool among the school-age crowd. Even if no one at school knew that they were brothers. ”So I called him ‘Tsuya-chan’ instead-“

”-And in return, I started calling him ‘Kuba-chan’.” Noa finished the thought, one hand covering over his mouth to partially hide his grin. “It was really hard to keep a straight face.” He confessed with a slight blush.

Mokuba nodded in agreement. “And everyone seemed to like it so much that Noa’s now ‘Tsuya’ at school and I swear one of the teachers called me ‘Kuba’ in the halls.”

”They did.” Noa snickered, starting to giggle again.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes, but he seemed amused by their antics. He had been worried about this so-called rivalry at school, but so far it was more fun than actual rivalry. Kind of like being in the middle of the biggest practical joke ever. “Better than ‘Moku-chan’ and ‘Katsu-chan’.” The blond muttered.

”Makes me sound like a pork cutlet.” Noa made a face. “And I sort of like ‘Tsuya’. It’s less of a borrowed cover name and feels more like a personal nickname.”

Something he doubted that Niisama had thought about when he arranged for ‘Mutou Katsuya’ to show up at school. Mokuba grinned. “There’s only one problem with it, ‘Tsuya-chan’.”

”Oh?” Noa raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that, ‘Kuba-chan’?”

”Topping it.”

”Oh.” Noa deflated slightly. “Yeah.”

+++  
+++

”Not long ago.” Seto mused as he pulled several pairs of socks out of a dresser drawer and added them to the pile to be packed. “I would have scoffed at someone admitting reluctance to leaving their partners behind to go on a business trip.”

”And now you understand?” Yuugi’s soft voice inquired.

Seto glanced at Yuugi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him with peaceful red eyes. Katsuya had managed to twist himself around Yuugi so that his legs were sprawled on one side, head resting on his arms on the other side. Yuugi was leaning back against the blond, rubbing slow circles behind Katsuya’s ears. Katsuya was making a not quite purr, but a sort of pleased rumble on every exhalation of breath. They looked very comfortable together, like the other was merely an extension of their own skin.

He wanted nothing more, at that moment, than to blow off the business trip and spend the next several days in bed, exploring his… lovers until they were all that comfortable with each other’s skin. Or perhaps just stuck to each other’s skin. Which ever came first.

”Yes.” Seto said quietly and turned his back on them to finish packing. He wasn’t going to get this done in time if he kept staring like a love-struck fool.

Katsuya’s rumble became a muted chuckle. “Knew when this started that I wasn’t just datin’ the CEO, was datin’ the entire damn company.” He drawled lazily with a yawn. Seto glanced back to find Yuugi looking at the blond with a startled look that turned thoughtful. It was a rather appropriate sentiment. Sometimes Katsuya was surprisingly insightful.

”It will only be for a few days.” Seto said quietly, mostly to himself as he folded a few more articles of clothing and set them in the waiting suitcase. He could have asked someone else, Mokuba, Katsuya or even one of the daytime maids to pack for him, but he never was completely certain of what he would find if he asked someone else to pack for him.

Just a few days, a trip to Las Vegas to take care of some things in Industrial Illusions that needed a more personal, formal touch. It’d been planned for weeks now, but now he just wanted to call it off, regardless of how much money he lost. It was a fanciful thought, and somewhat disturbing for the pervasiveness of it. With the exception of Duelling, he’d never allowed anything to interfere with business. And even then, Duelling was business. Serious business.

Katsuya stretched and sat up, one leg on either side of Yuugi, resting his head on the mass of spiky hair as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man. “We’ll hold down the fort in the meantime.” Yuugi promised him, eyes glinting with mischief.

”S’what we do, right?” Katsuya easily agreed.

Seto turned and stared at them in slight shock as he realised that Katsuya was right yet again. Not the fact that Katsuya was right, but the meaning behind the words. He had someone -here-, watching his back, watching over Mokuba, watching everything he’d worked for. He’d had it for quite a while, that knowledge in the back of his mind that they would help, but he’d never thought to put it in context.

This… new relationship with Yuugi and Katsuya… it wasn’t just about the physical… It meant that they were there to support each other as well. They had done so for years without mentioning it, under the banner of friendship, but now it felt like it was more formal. More… real. He was not alone. And would not be alone any time in the foreseeable future.

”Right.” He said slowly, feeling out the new configurations in his head, the new shape of things. It was somewhat scary in a looming uncertain sort of way, but it was also pleasant. He liked it.

Yuugi giggled, reaching a hand out towards Seto. “Good.” He smiled, eyes half lidded in amusement and contentment. “Then finish your packing so we can say goodbye properly before your flight.” Katsuya hummed, nodding his agreement, eyes glowing with smug satisfaction and welcome.

Seto stared at them for a moment, his brain diverted from its current job by the picture presented before him. They… wanted him. Him. Not a trophy, not a prize, just… himself.

His brain on somewhat automatic pilot, he pulled out his mobile phone, thumbing it to camera mode and taking a photograph. “A reminder.” He said, his voice strangely hoarse as he lowered the phone. He had a feeling he was going to need them.

Katsuya chuckled as Yuugi’s expression turned soft and reminiscent. “Yes.” The King of Duellists agreed, continuing to hold his hand out in invitation.

Seto ran through what he needed for the trip and glanced at the clock. He had approximately forty-five minutes before he had to leave, and most of his things were packed. He could finish packing in under five.

He took Yuugi’s hand and joined them on the bed.

 

+++  
+++

”Somehow… I don’t think those will really work on me, Otogi-kun.” Yuugi said with only a touch of regret in his voice.

”Really?” Otogi glanced over at the dangling dice earrings he was holding up to his ear. “I think they show you have style.”

Yuugi resisted the urge to sigh as Jounouchi let out a bark of laughter behind him. Why had he let Otogi convince him that getting new earrings was a good thing? Shopping for them no less?

”Oh, it shows style.” Jounouchi agreed, patting Otogi on the shoulder. “’Dice-boy’.”

”Hey!” Otogi glared back at the blond. “I am not obsessed….” He trailed off, looking at the earrings in his hand. “That has nothing to do with this.” He said loftily, putting the earrings back. Jounouchi snickered.

Yuugi muffled a chuckle before stepping in to wind his two friends back down. “I think it is more your style than my style, Otogi-kun.”

Otogi thought about this for a moment. “I suppose we could always hang cards from your ears.” He concluded.

Jounouchi started snickering again, one hand clasped over his mouth to muffle the noise. “Ka-Kaiba!” He squeaked.

One of Yuugi’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

”Can you picture him?” Jounouchi grinned, swallowing his laughter long enough to get the words out. “Card necklace, and matching earrings?”

Yuugi thought about it for a minute. On one hand, it’d draw the eye to Seto’s impossibly long and strong neck. On the other hand, he’d look like a clown. “Jounouchi!” He scolded.

”What?” Jounouchi grinned back, barely-muted laughter in his expression.

Yuugi shook his head. Confessions of more than friendly feelings and sleeping together, --in the carnal sense, Yuugi had to struggle to refrain from blushing-- had done nothing to slow the teasing between Jounouchi and Kaiba. Somehow, he doubted it ever would, but he was very thankful it was the playful banter that had sprung up since Jounouchi’s employment with Kaiba Corporation and not the teeth and claws kind it had been when they were younger.

He glanced over at Otogi to find the game creator glancing between them. “No suffix?” Otogi questioned, looking surprised. Yuugi belatedly realised he hadn’t called Jounouchi the usual ‘Jounouchi-kun’.

”If you find that shocking.” Yuugi drawled, glancing over at Jounouchi, who looked like he was still attempted to hide his laughter. “I’d hate to think what would happen if I called him by his given name. What do you think, Katsuya?”

Jounouchi burst into laughter again as Otogi’s eyes widened, looking like he’d just witnessed a very large sign of the Apocalypse. One of the sales ladies gave them a muted glare and he realised that they were attracting attention. Jounouchi noticed as well, motioning to the other end of the counter, where some of the less colourful jewellery was. “So whatcha lookin’ for? Hoops or studs?”

Yuugi shot his best friend a grateful look. Kaiba Seto’s Bodyguard and top-ranking Duellist, The Duellist King and the Creator of Dice Monsters hanging out together. All they needed was one fan to realise who one of them was and they’d never finish getting what they came here for.

Otogi shook himself and allowed himself to be pushed along. “That was evil, you know.” He muttered at Yuugi. Yuugi smiled sweetly back. Why did everyone think he was so innocent anyway? Otogi had been on enough adventures with them that he should have known better.

”Jounouchi-kun! Yuugi-kun!” A bright bubbly voice drew their attention. For a second, Yuugi had a brief spike of alarm that his previous thought had come true and a fan really had recognised them, then he spotted a violet haired young woman waved at them from behind the counter.

”Is that…” Jounouchi trailed off, looking slightly confused.

”Miho-chan?” Yuugi questioned, stepping forward. “What are you doing here?”

”I work here, silly!” Miho giggled, batting a hand at them like it should have been obvious. “What are you doing here?”

”Looking for earrings for Yuugi.” Jounouchi motioned to Yuugi. “Long time, no see, Miho.”

”Miho?” Otogi muttered quietly. “Isn’t that the girl Hiroto used to have a crush on?”

Bit more of a crush, with the way Honda used to go around with hearts in his eyes and doing eccentric and sometimes dangerous things to win her attentions. But that was a while before Otogi arrived at their school. ”’Ribbon-chan’.” Yuugi nodded, eyeing Otogi with concern. “She turned him down. Be nice, Otogi.”

Otogi glanced at her with a smug smirk that didn’t quite conceal fangs. ”I’m always nice.”

Yuugi hoped this wasn’t going to be one of those kinds of days. He turned his attention back to the conversation at hand, grateful that Jounouchi had picked up the conversation, catching up on what they’d been doing since High School. Miho had mostly been working at department stores, getting a chance to dress other people up in to make them pretty. She seemed happy with it, something which gladdened Yuugi.

Miho was a sweet girl and cared for her friends deeply, but generally didn’t appear to have a great deal going on above her shoulders.

Jounouchi glanced at Otogi out of the corner of his eye for a moment before steering the conversation towards earrings for Yuugi. Otogi had a fondness for pointing out the shiny studs, large cubic zirconia, garnets, topaz, and peridot. Jounouchi was silent as Otogi and Miho discussed the colours, which confused Yuugi while until he remembered that to Jounouchi, all the beautiful rich colours before them were all varying shades of grey.

It made his decision a little easier to head towards the plain metal earrings. While the stones were pretty, they didn’t feel quite right. And he really didn’t need anything sparkly to draw more attention to his already weird hair. Otogi and Miho were a bit disappointed when he chose a pair of plain sterling silver studs and a small gold hoop for the extra piercing on his left ear.

It was a bit odd, but he liked it. Not exactly subtle, but not flashy either. He grinned to himself as he pulled out the cash for his purchases.

”You know,” Miho informed him cheerfully as she worked the cash register. “Mixing Silver and Gold is generally considered to be tacky and unfashionable. But it works for you!”

”I’d never heard that.” Yuugi said as he took his change back from the tray she offered. It was a good thing no one had told him when he was younger… Finding a gold coloured chain for the Puzzle would have been a royal pain.

Otogi made a muttered comment that he didn’t quite get a chance to hear before the game creator yelped. He glanced over to discover Otogi jumping up and down on one foot, Jounouchi looking both innocent and pleased. Yuugi decided he didn’t want to know, because he’d probably be forced to step on Otogi’s other foot.

”Anything else I can interest you in today?” Miho chirped as Yuugi put his change away. She motioned to the rest of the display cases. “We have lots of different jewellery!”

”Thank you, but no.” Yuugi reached up and touched the new earrings in his ears. The texture was different from the ones that Kajiki had given him, much smoother, not worn from use. Something new to get used to.

”Hey, Yuugi.” Jounouchi waved him over next to a case and pointed to something. “What colour is that?”

”Colour?” Otogi raised an eyebrow as Yuugi walked over. “Can’t you tell?”

”Nope.” Jounouchi shrugged. Yuugi peered through the glass at what Jounouchi was looking at. It was rather obvious, despite the large number of rings on display in the long black velvet box.

”Gold.” Yuugi said slowly as Miho walked over, unlocking the case without being asked. “With an amethyst stone. May we see this, please?”

”Amethyst is purple, right?” Jounouchi nodded, looking pleased as he ignored the odd look Otogi was giving him.

”Yes.” Yuugi said, taking the ring from Miho’s hands. It was a semi-wide gold band, an ankh on either side. The loops of the ankh overlapped on the top of the ring, framing an oval shaped dark purple amethyst stone. ”Same colour as Black Magician’s armour.” Same shade as his Other Self’s rich violet eyes.

Without asking, he started sliding it on to his fingers. It fit the middle finger of his right hand. It felt strange to have a ring on that finger, making his hand feel bulker than he was used to, but not uncomfortably so. He tried to avoid rings on his hands in case they caught on the cards, but that hadn’t bothered his Other Self, back in the Memory’s World.

He took the ring off and grimaced at the price tag. Easily ten times more than he’d spent on the admittedly cheap earrings. Jounouchi grabbed the tag and looked at it as well, making a low whistle. “If you don’t get it, it’s your birthday present.” The blond informed him bluntly.

”Jounouchi-kun…” Yuugi said softly, knowing his friend would do exactly that.

”Ah.” Jounouchi raised a hand and pointed at him. “Don’t argue.”

Yuugi sighed, looking at the ring once more. It reminded him a lot of his Other Self and his Other Self’s favourite card, the Black Magician. It was the same ankh that was on the Monster Reborn card as well.

He didn’t have any physical mementos of his Other Self’s time with him, other than his deck. Which was locked up where no one could touch it, because people occasionally tried to steal it for whatever reason. And for a long time, having something like a physical reminder of his Other Self would have hurt too much, remind him of what he had lost.

Now… He wouldn’t mind. Didn’t mind. It no longer felt like his heart was being ripped out when he thought about his missing Other Self. It didn’t mean it hurt any less, but now there were other people deep in his heart too.

Such as the blond looking at him with a serious expression. “I’ll split the cost with you.” He ventured. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford the ring right now, Jiichan kept him up to date on the state of his bank account. And while wasn’t extremely huge compared to Kaiba, it was a great more than he was comfortable thinking about spending.

”Deal.” Jounouchi nodded. He turned to Miho. “We’ll take it.”

”Yuugi-kun was into Egyptian things in school, wasn’t he?” Miho mused absently as she took the ring from Yuugi’s hand and cut the price tag off before handing it back. Yuugi put the ring back on his finger with a sense of awe.

Otogi snickered. “You could say that.”

Miho sparkled at them as she rung up the purchase. Yuugi pulled out his wallet again, pulling out a credit card. Jounouchi pulled out his wallet as well, calmly pulling out a 10,000 yen note. He had a few more bills in his wallet as well. Both Yuugi and Otogi raised their eyebrows, surprised at the amount Jounouchi was casually carrying around.

”Petty cash just paid me back.” Jounouchi shrugged in return. “Y’know who I work fer. And it’s not like he ever remembers his wallet whenever we drag him out ta eat.”

There were times, Yuugi had the sudden sinking feeling, that he was never going to understand Kaiba. Or his lifestyle. He could get the fringe bits, stock holders and stuff, but the often times day-to-day stuff kind of hurt his head.

”Miho added discount.” Miho added with a wink as she handed Yuugi a slip of paper to sign. “Happy Birthday!”

Yuugi’s birthday wasn’t until June, but he still appreciated the thought. And it brought the price down a significant level. “Thanks, Miho-chan.”

”Welcome!” Miho smiled as she finished the transaction. “Come back and see Miho-chan again!” She bubbled.

”We will.” Yuugi promised as they walked away. Jounouchi and Otogi waved as well.

Otogi patted Yuugi on the head as they wandered out of the store, heading down the through the slightly crowded sidewalk. “Not a bad shopping trip.” He said with a grin. And apparently over any jealousy about Honda and his crush on Miho, Yuugi was pleased to note. “I’d say you came out pretty well.”

”Yup.” He looked down at the ring on his hands. “Thanks, Jounouchi-kun.”

Jounouchi blushed slightly, looking pleased. “You’re welcome.”

Otogi chuckled. “And now…” He drawled playfully. “We just need to get Jounouchi to pierce his ears too, and then we can all trade jewellery!”

Jounouchi clasped his hands over his floppy ears, hidden by his hair and wireless headset with a look akin to panic. “Oh, hell no!”

Otogi shrugged gamefully. “Well, it was worth a shot…”

+++  
+++

Seto wasn't paying that much attention to the goings on in the background. He had work to do, and he was going to get it done. After all the faster he got it done, the sooner he got to go home. Home to his brother and home to his lovers.

Lovers. That was still taking some mental adjustment to get used to. Seto continued to wait for the other shoe to drop.

Katsuya and Yuugi were sitting on the bed, sunlight occasionally streaming in through the windows and highlighting them with golden light. Katsuya was sitting at the foot of the bed, long legs stretched out along it, his back resting against wall. Yuugi's smaller frame was framed on either side by Katsuya's legs, Yuugi happily using Katsuya as a backrest while they sorted through stacks of Duel Monsters, arguing the pros and cons of various cards, only snatches of words making it to Seto's ears.

It was... soothing. Yuugi and Katsuya fit together very well, content to just -be- in each other's presence. They relaxed with Seto as well, singularly or together, but never to the extent that they did when it was the each other.

Seto wanted that. He wasn't sure how to do it, but he wanted that. Eventually. Something to strive for.

He worked some more, glancing at his lovers now and then, a brief smile flitting across Seto's features as he watched them talk before working some more.

And then he glanced up and realised that they were doing much more than talking. Yuugi had turned around so he was straddling Katsuya's hips, his hands buried in Katsuya's golden hair as they kissed. Katsuya didn't seem to mind the change in activities, seeing that his hands were currently cradling the curve of Yuugi's ass, keeping the smaller Duellist right where he was as they slowly rocked against each other.

Seto glanced at his work, then at his lovers and almost but didn't quite whimper.

Yuugi's hand slid down Katsuya's chest, pausing where tee-shirt met blue jeans and fiddled a bit at the waistband. Katsuya growled, a flash of teeth in the light and then the button holding Katsuya's jeans was miraculously undone.

Katsuya wasn't the only one to groan as Yuugi undid the jeans zipper and pressed his hand against Katsuya's length before pulling him out. Seto could remember all to well how Yuugi's small but rough hands felt against that sensitive part of his own anatomy. An amused violet eye glanced in Seto's direction.

Then Yuugi's attention was back on Katsuya, whose spine arched away from the wall, leaving only his shoulders pressed against it. The current King of Games smirked as he casually pumped Katsuya's dick, drinking in best friend's unrestrained reaction. Then Katsuya leaned forward, grabbing Yuugi's head and pulling it to his, latching on to Yuugi's lips as he messily came all over Yuugi's hand.

Yuugi looked like the cat whom had just gotten the preverbal cream as the kiss finally ended. Katsuya just panted, his eyes half-lidded as he looked at Yuugi, before leaning on the smaller man in a half-boneless slump. Yuugi let out a small laugh as this proceeded to send them falling onto the bed in a pile of not nearly naked enough limbs.

They lay there for a minute, obstentiously cuddling with each other. He almost thought that Katsuya had fallen asleep and was turning his attention back to his work --which he was SUPPOSED to be working on-- when Yuugi stirred, glancing in Seto's direction again, his eyes half-lidded and dark.

Seto quietly adjusted himself and glared in return. He was about to turn his focus back to where it should be --out of his pants-- when Yuugi attempted to rise from the bed and move in his direction.

And Katsuya jumped him. The blond pinned the smaller duellist to the bed, and between one eye blink and the next, had removed Yuugi's leather pants, belts, buckles and all. Yuugi buckled as Katsuya gobbled Yuugi down and Seto muffled another groan. Yuugi's hands scrabbled to find purchase in the bedsheets, Katsuya's shirt, anywhere except for the blond's hair, careful not to pull the hair or the long floppy ears.

Finally Yuugi writhed, one hand shoved sideways into his mouth to muffle the noise of his climax as Katsuya licked him with long swipes of his broad flexible tongue. Then Yuugi pet Katsuya's golden hair, the two of them smiling at each other before Katsuya predictably passed out for a nap.

After a moment or two, Yuugi slipped out of the bed, his shirt not even beginning to cover any of Yuugi's dignity as the small Duellist walked towards Seto. He leaned down to smile. "We'll see you when you get home." Yuugi whispered warmly, before turning off the webcam.

Halfway across the globe, in his offices in America, Seto adjusted his too tight pants again.

There were days when he still -really- hated Mutou Yuugi.

+++  
+++

”Leonhart!” Noa’s cheerful voice exclaimed, drawing Mokuba’s attention. He pushed his computer chair away from the desk, rolling behind Noa, kneeling on the chair as he draped himself over Noa’s chair and glancing over his shoulder. “Long time no see!”

”Hey.” The usually cheerful European’s smile wasn’t quite as bright as usual, the lines around his eyes somewhat pinched.

”You okay?” Mokuba questioned.

”Yeah.” Leonhart rubbed his forehead. “Kind of. Maybe. I might not be on for a while.”

”What happened?” Noa asked, his brows coming down. Noa talked to Leonhart a lot more than Mokuba did. “Your brother?”

”I caught an error in time to save the company quite a bit of money.” Leonhart gave them a wan smile. “Unfortunately, the error was my brother’s.”

”And he grounded you for it?!” Noa exclaimed, annoyed. Mokuba raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to look into Schroider Corporation and how well the company was doing. ‘Niisama had once commented about buying it out, although Mokuba was pretty sure he’d been joking about it at the time. Kaiba Corporation was doing extremely well in Japan and moderately well in the States, but if they could gain control of Schroider, they’d have an easier time breaking into Europe, where Schroider was currently ruling.

”I made him look bad.” Leonhart looked weary as he said it and Mokuba grimaced. It was strange, how similar their positions were, and how backwards at the same time. If, when, Mokuba caught a rare mistake of ‘Niisama, ‘Niisama was annoyed at himself, but pleased with Mokuba for backing him up. Why Siegfried would turn down such a valuable commodity boggled Mokuba. Not only did it not make sense on a brotherly level, it was bad business sense.

”You could always start your own business.” Noa offered with false cheerfulness. Mokuba smacked his shoulder.

”Idiot.” He scolded with a playful smirk. “If Leonhart’s leaving, Kaiba Corporation gets first dibs.”

”Oooh, yeah.” Noa grinned. “That offer still good?”

”Of course.” Mokuba said firmly, extending a hand towards the computer screen. “Come, Leonart. Join the dark side.” He intoned.

”That’s right.” Leonhart gave a small laugh. “You have cookies.”

”Yup.” Mokuba grinned, feeling brighter for making Leonhart laugh.

Leonhart sighed, looking at them with a fond smile. “I envy you two, sometimes.”

Noa glanced up at Mokuba, exchanging a look. “Ours is a bit of an odd situation.” Noa said carefully.

Mokuba nodded. “For one thing, usually our positions are reversed.” He said with a smile.

”I’m usually draped over Ototo.” Noa jerked a thumb in Mokuba direction with a small smile of his own.

Leonhart chuckled. “I’d almost pay to see that.” He said fondly, propping his head up with a hand, resting his elbow on the desk.

”Come out and visit us sometime.” Noa suggested, glancing back at Mokuba for confirmation. Mokuba nodded in agreement.

”Agreed.”

”I’ll keep that in mind-skktttt-“ The screen wavered, Leonhart’s voice becoming distorted.

”Leonhart?” Noa reached forward, tapping the screen. Mokuba had the feeling that wasn’t all Noa was doing as the picture snapped somewhat clear, horizontal lines of distortion running up the screen.

” _Verdammt!_ ” Leonhart spat, a long burst of static accompanying the curse, obscuring some words. “-caught on. I’ll see you later!” The pink haired boy’s image vanished, leaving a black screen. Noa sighed as he shut down the video window.

”He hacked into the Schroider Corporation network to talk to us.” Noa said, leaning back into the chair, tilting his head up to look at Mokuba with a worried expression.

”Things going that badly?” Mokuba’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

”For Schroider company?” Noa said darkly. “Possibly. The von Schroiders made some deals with Industrial Illusions several years back that has been keeping them afloat. But since Kaiba Corporation took over Industrial Illusions, the elder von Schroider has been making some risky manoeuvres to get out of the contracts with Industrial Illusions.”

”Anything to spit on ‘Niisama’s face.” Mokuba growled.

”Apparently.” Noa agreed, running a hand through his short hair. “Leonhart’s aware of it, of course. But there’s not much he can do with Seigfried’s locking him out of the running of the company.”

”And everything else from the looks of it.” Mokuba spared a brief thought of thanks for the amount of freedom he had. Public school may sound like a lot of freedom, but he’d met some of those ‘rich private school’ kids and didn’t think he’d do so well with the strict rule system. At least Domino High had a somewhat relaxed uniform code.

Noa nodded, looking tired as well. “I hope he’ll be okay.”

”He’s clever.” Mokuba patted his other brother. “And he knows we’re here. He’ll be fine.”

”Yeah.” Noa sighed, changing the windows on the screen with a wave of his hand. “I hope so.”

 

+++  
+++

 

Seto sighed, wishing he was back in Japan. Preferably Domino City, but just Japan would do. He was tired of the dry desert air, the constant chatter in English around him and the constant handshaking and shoulder patting. For a culture that generally demanded more personal space than normal, they were a touchy-feely group. He wished he had been able to wear his usual outfit with the large spiked shoulders instead of a suit, but they had insisted on it being a ‘Black Tie Affair’.

One of these days, he was merely going to add a tie to his usual attire, just to see the reactions he got.

He made a mental note to mention that to Mokuba, his brother would probably be amused by it. On second thought, probably not a good idea. Mokuba would probably insist on it and the tabloids would never let him live it down.

But save for some minor paperwork in the morning, it was done. Industrial Illusions was now part of ‘Kaiba Corporation L.L.C.’. Making Kaiba Corporation a ‘limited liability company’ made things a bit simpler when it came to taxes and people attempting to shift the blame towards him. It was all politics in the end. But it those politics that were what the party was for. He should be excited about it, about the up coming tournament to celebrate, but mostly he just wanted it done, over with, and to be home with his family.

Someone bumped into his back, almost causing him to stumble forward. Wonderful. Another stumbling drunk socialite. “Ah! Sorry!” A feminine voice squeaked.

Wait… He turned around, catching sight of a huge mane of blonde hair. “Kujaku?” He inquired. “Kujaku Mai?”

”Kaiba?” She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and revealing her large violet eyes. She stared at him for a moment then laughed, a lovely energetic sound after all the strained polite titters he’d heard this evening. Even more lovelier was the fact she switched over to Japanese. English occasionally contained pratfalls, especially when one did not use it regularly. “I didn’t recognise you in a suit!”

”Quite alright.” He deadpanned. “I didn’t recognise you without the bustiere.” Indeed, she was wearing a classic ‘little black dress’, cut low at the back and high at the thigh. However, unlike some of the women at the party, Kujaku had both the figure and class to pull the outfit off without looking tawdry as well.

She gawked at him, one hand quickly covering her mouth as her cheeks turned red. For a moment, he was afraid he was about to be slapped. Then he realised the reason for her expression as little giggles began to escape her control. “I’d forgotten you had a sense of humour!” She patted him soundly on the back, hard enough he wondered if he’d have bruises in the morning. “Katsuya’s company been good for you.”

”Indeed.” Seto agreed, grateful he had enough control not to blush as he remembered the private showing Yuugi had made him privy to. “What brings you here today, Kujaku?”

She flipped her hair back over her shoulder in an idle gesture. ”Boredom, primarily.” She drawled tiredly. “After travelling amongst the upper echelons for a while, one occasionally is sent invites for gatherings that aren’t focused on Duelling. I had a free night and an invitation, so here I am. And you?”

”Business.” He inclined his head towards his fellow businessmen, chatting amongst themselves. While the celebration was for Kaiba Corporation, there was also a distinctively lack of duellists among the suits. Also boring. “Unfortunately.”

”Hm.” She made a disdainful noise through her nose. “What do ya say we ditch this party and catch up on old news?” She asked, tilting her head towards the exit in a playful invitation to flee.

”Kujaku-san,” Seto drawled, drawing himself up to his full height with a great deal of dignity. “Are you suggesting that leave this fine celebration to go off and -gossip- like old women about card games?”

”Well, if you aren’t interested…” She said, waving it off.

”I believe the American phrase is-” He said, then switched from Japanese to English: “-Your place or mine?”

She stared at him for a minute, her mouth partly open. Kujaku carefully blinked, like she was verifying that she was awake, then her lips curled up into a playful smile. “Mine’s on the other side of the city.” She said, eyelashes lowering in an almost coquettish look that would have had him recoiling had it been almost anyone else.

”Next floor down.” He said, offering her his arm. His then, it was closer. “Shall we?”

”Certainly.” She wrapped her deceptively delicate looking arm through his, gesturing grandly towards the doors with a cat-like grin on her face.

A much more welcoming way to celebrate, indeed.

+++  
+++

Yuugi’s mobile ran, distracting him from the video game Mokuba and Jounouchi were playing. It involved some catchy music and rolling objects into a ball, including the occasional screaming twitching person. He and Noa had dibs on the next round.

”Be right back.” He said, excusing himself from the entertainment room and disappearing into the much quieter hallway. He flipped open the phone. “Moshi Moshi.”

Kaiba’s three-dimensional torso appeared on the screen, Yuugi automatically moving so Kaiba was level. “Hi.” Yuugi said with a grin, relaxing slightly. Kaiba looked tired, he noted with a bit of worry. He did some mental conversions in his head for time zones. It was late afternoon here, which meant that it was really really early in the morning there.

”Good evening.” Kaiba gave him a small smile of his own. “Are Mokuba and Katsuya nearby?”

”In the other room.” He motioned behind him. “Homework’s done, so it’s video game time.”

”Of course.” Kaiba acknowledged tiredly. “If you could pass on the messages after we’re done, I’d appreciate it.”

”Certainly.” Yuugi nodded, leaning against the wall and making himself comfortable. “What’s up?”

”I ran into Kujaku during tonight’s celebratory part and we left. Together.” Kaiba said, giving him a fierce look, as if willing to Yuugi to understand what he was saying under the words. “We were up late, talking. She’s currently asleep.”

The camera moved, walls of a hotel room blurring past. Kaiba had the rights and access to Pegasus’ old quarters in Las Vegas, but Yuugi could kind of understood why Kaiba hadn’t stayed there instead. Kaiba’s memories of the former eccentric business man were not… kind. And from what he’d seen, filled with Funny Bunny artwork. No, he understood why Kaiba was in a hotel.

The camera stopped on Mai, dressed in one of Kaiba’s business shirts, one bare leg left uncovered by the blanket wrapped around her as she slept on the sofa. Yuugi stifled a small laugh. Count on Kaiba to make the lady sleep on the sofa instead of offering her the bed.

”The sofa does fold out into a bed, but she didn’t want to bother with it.” Kaiba informed him with a dry tone, the camera view blurring back to Kaiba’s face. The background blurred, Kaiba walking back into the other room.

Yuugi frowned slightly, a stray thought hitting. “This is going to cause talk, isn’t it?” He said slowly. Kaiba was frequently in the spotlight, attracting attention where ever he went. His leaving the party with Mai was bound to cause a bit of a stir, then add that several people would see and swear that they saw Mai leaving Kaiba’s hotel room the next morning was just going to encourage it.

”Yes.” Kaiba said wearily as he sank onto the bed. “I had not initially planned it, but it could work in our favour. If people are busy speculating about the relationship between Kujaku and myself, it could cover for any slips on my part.”

Yuugi felt a bit of jealousy rise in his throat. He didn’t -want- to share Kaiba with anyone other than Jounouchi, even with a friend like Mai. It wasn’t -fair-.

Jounouchi had warned him about this, that a relationship with Kaiba wasn’t going to be easy because of who he was, and the public spotlight. And while he didn’t mind the relationship being a secret, he still didn’t like some aspects of having to deal with the public limelight.

”Yuugi.” Kaiba’s rumbling voice drew his attention back to the conversation. “We talked.” He said sincerely. “That is all. We did not even get around to a duel.”

”I know.” He said, wishing he could touch Kaiba, wrap his arms around Kaiba’s tall body and just hold on for a while. “I trust you.” He didn’t doubt Kaiba in the least. Kaiba was a strange person, but he was fiercely honourable. And Kaiba wouldn’t cheat on him and Jounouchi with anyone. And Yuugi was pleased that Kaiba had found a friend in Mai.

But it still didn’t stop him from worrying sometimes.

”Have you mentioned it to Mai?” He asked instead, wondering what the brassy blonde had to say about it.

”She thinks it’s hysterical.” Kaiba said with a touch of dry humour. “Especially considering she’s dating Katsuya’s sister. But in exchange, I’m giving her a lift back to Japan, she has decided she’s homesick.”

Yuugi laughed a little at that. Mai always did have a bit of an opportunistic streak in her.

”We should be home by dinner tomorrow.” Kaiba said, his image reaching forward and tracing the air in front of him. Running his fingertips along his projected face, Yuugi realised with a sharp pang. Kaiba missed them too.

”I’ll tell the others.” Yuugi smiled, feeling better. This bond between them was too new, he wished Kaiba hadn’t had to leave.

”Thank you.” Kaiba said quietly.

They lapsed into silence, the air comfortable between them. “I… should go.” Kaiba finally said. “I should sleep if I wish to finish the paperwork in the morning so we may leave at a reasonable time.”

”Okay.” Yuugi touched Kaiba’s tired image, wishing again that he could actually feel him. “We’ll see you when you get home.”

”Yes.” Kaiba looked a bit better for that. “I’ll see you then.”

”Oyasumi.” Yuugi wished him a good night as the image faded and disappeared. He shut the phone with a small click, leaning against the door a little while longer, trying to get his confused thoughts into some sort of order.

Finally, he gave up and walked back in, finding them still at the video game. He walked over next to Jounouchi and leaned against him, one arm draped over the blond’s shoulders. Jounouchi glanced up at him. “Everything okay?”

”Yeah.” Yuugi said, his voice calmer than expected. “That was Kaiba, he ran into Mai at a party. They’ll be back around supper time tomorrow.”

”Cool!” Mokuba cheered, something going ‘crunch’ under his large messy ball.

”Hey, Noa.” Jounouchi tossed his controller up in the air at the green-haired boy. “Take over.”

Noa looked confused for a second, but caught the controller and took Jounouchi’s place with a cheerful predatory look that no doubt bode ill for Mokuba. ”Okay!”

”Thanks.” Jounouchi rose, tugging Yuugi out of the room. “We’ll be back in a second.” He called over his shoulder. The teenagers ignored him, caught up in their game. Yuugi followed him out into the hallway, Jounouchi wrapping his arms around Yuugi. Yuugi wrapped his arms around Jounouchi’s solid waist, hugging him back.

”Okay, so what’s up?” Jounouchi asked quietly, running a hand through Yuugi’s spiky hair.

”Mai’s spending the night in Kaiba’s hotel room. On the sofa.” Yuugi said, leaning against his best friend. “They left the party together.”

”Which means the tabloids will be all over it.” Jounouchi nodded. “That should keep them busy fer the next month or so.”

That was right, Jounouchi was used to this sort of thing after a these past few years with Kaiba. “Does this ever get easier?” Yuugi asked. “Having to hide all the time?”

”You’re a celebrity too, y’know.” Jounouchi said playfully. Yuugi snorted. Yes, on the Duelling circuits. While the duelling community was always growing, it wasn’t exactly -everywhere-. He had some scraps of anonymity. Kaiba had -none-.

Jounouchi sighed. “I wish I could say that it does, but I don’t think really ever does.” He said tiredly. “The real stuff, the precious stuff, hasta stay hidden or it’s used as a weakness. How many times has Mokuba been kidnapped or Kaiba Corporation taken over to be used against Seto? How many times were we were used against you in Battle City? Or you were used against your Other Self?”

”Jounouchi…” He trailed off, his eyes closed tightly. Too many times. Jounouchi and Anzu in the hands of an insane Malik, Honda being taken over by the Big 5, himself being used as a counter for the final duel against Bakura, parts of himself flying off as his Other Self lost points. He could go on, before and after Battle City, but the point was made.

Friendship was what made Yuugi strong, strong enough to fight. But it was a two way street, those same bonds that made him strong made him weak to those same people. Weak to their hurts, weak when they hurt him.

”For what it’s worth…” Jounouchi said tentatively. “I think it’s worth it. In the end, I mean. ‘The returning investments outweigh the expenditures’ and all that.”

”Okay, now I know that you’ve been hanging out with Kaiba -way- too much.” Yuugi snickered, lifting his head from Jounouchi’s shirt to look at the blond. Jounouchi’s tail thumped against his legs a few times as he grinned. The grin faded as Jounouchi’s expression turned serious.

”You okay, Yuugi?” He asked, running a hand down Yuugi’s cheek in an oddly gentle gesture. “I mean, y’gonna be okay? A relationship between two people’s hard enough, but it’s three and we’re all guys. And then there’s the business thing and the celebrity thing and the duelling thing. This ain’t gonna be easy.”

”I know.” He wrapped his hand around Jounouchi’s, holding Jounouchi’s warm hand against his cheek. They’d already done the easy part, falling in love with each other. … Or falling in lust. Sometimes he wasn’t sure on Kaiba’s part, but he could work with lust. “And I’m not giving up. I just…” He trailed off, mentally stumbling to find the words.

”Yeah.” Jounouchi nodded. “It’s weird and it’s crazy and sometimes throws ya fer a loop. Gets me too sometimes.”

”I’d never guess.” Yuugi said honestly. Jounouchi seemed to carry himself with such an assured air. He dropped his head back down, his ear pressed against Jounouchi’s ribcage, listening to the precious sound of his best friend’s heart.

His Other Self had had no heartbeat. Even in their Soul Room, he had no heartbeat. Millennia ago, his heart had beat its last beat.

Jounouchi and Kaiba… Their hearts still beat. So did his. So did Mokuba’s. Not Noa’s though.

This world of Kaiba’s… was strange. He’d circled the edges of it for years, but walking into it, even with his eyes open and anticipating, was a shock. They’d just barely gotten their feet together, -gotten- together, and already it almost felt like things were falling out of his control, much less his understanding.

He was going to have to work on that. Learn this new world. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, rely on his friends to protect him from this.

”Better?” Jounouchi asked, hands still petting Yuugi’s hair.

Yuugi nodded, rubbing his cheek against the soft material of Jounouchi’s shirt, more because he liked the feeling than anything else. “Thanks.”

”Welcome.” He chuckled fondly. “Had a few moments like that myself. Mokuba helped. Noa too. Speakin’ of which, should go check on ‘em.”

”Yeah.” He agreed, unwrapping one arm around Jounouchi’s waist, but not stepping away. Jounouchi caught the hint and they moved towards the other room together.

Kaiba’s world was new and strange, but there were always rules that had to be obeyed.

And once he knew the rules, well, Yuugi wasn’t the so-called ‘King of Games’ for nothing.

+++  
+++

Arms wrapped around him, hands pressed against his chest and stomach. Jounouchi checked his instinctual reaction to elbow the unfamiliar person pressing against his back as he heard a sultry voice purr: “I want pictures.”

He grinned, continuing running the last of tonight’s dishes under the faucet. “Hi, Mai.” Yuugi had warned him that his ‘Sister-In-Law’ was stopping by for a visit, but wasn’t sure on exactly when. “I take it Seto’s up checking on Mokuba and Yuugi? And what is it that y’want pictures of exactly?”

”My little boy is growing up!” She squealed, reaching up and ruffling the top of his head. “And managed to snag not only -one-, but TWO good looking hunks!”

”… And you want pictures of the three of us.” He drawled.

”Without clothing preferable, but I’ll go for ‘partly’ if I can get it.” Mai cheerfully agreed.

”Okay….” Jounouchi turned off the water and shook off his wet hands, Mai releasing him and backing up a step to avoid the water splatter. “Why?” He didn’t think she was the blackmailing sort.

He got a blank look in response.

”Katsuya….” Mai slowly, dangerously, raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to go get you a mirror and we have the ‘I am not worthless mongrel’ talk -again-?”

Jounouchi backed up a step, his ears going back against his skull. “Ah… No.” He -really- didn’t need another ‘pep talk’ from Mai. He was still ringing from the one she’d given him when she found out about his mutation. “We’re pretty. Got it.”

”Good boy.” She smirked, crossing her arms under her cleavage, causing it to pop slightly.

He briefly rolled his eyes. “Long trip, Mai?”

”Like you wouldn’t believe.” She said tiredly, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. “C’mon. I’d like to say ‘Hi’ to your other halves before I hit the sack.”

”Yeah.” Jounouchi nodded. It was 12 hours from Los Angeles to Tokyo, not including customs. Unless Seto had decided to fly one of his Dragon Jets, in which case it took less time, but was no less wearing. “C’mon, I think there’s still a guest room set up fer ya.”

”Bless you.” Mai sighed in relief. “I- EEP!”

He saw her pitch forward out of the corner of his eyes and automatically reached out to try to catch her. Unfortunately, his own feet slipped on what was likely to be the same puddle of water that caused her to fall and he fell backwards, still trying to catch Mai.

::WHUMP!::

“I-ite-ite-te…” Jounouchi hissed from the floor, finding himself with a lap full of Mai. Ow, bad ow. “You okay?” He asked, raising his hips to shift his tail out of the weird angle it was laying at under his butt. Much better. Fortunately it didn’t feel like anything else was injured other than his pride.

”Yeah, I’m fine.” Mai flipped her hair out of her face, one hand on his chest for balance. He belatedly realised that she was straddling him, her short skirt riding up high enough that he could see that her panties were some sort of pastel colour today. Not that he was trying to look. Really. It was just sort of -there- and as a member of Security, he was trained to notice these little details. Honest. “Thanks for the catch.”

”No problem.” He grinned. All part of a day’s work. Jounouchi’s grin faded as he noticed the string that held Mai’s bustiere closed was starting to fray at a rapid rate. “Uh, Mai-“

The string snapped. Jounouchi flinched at the noise, holding his hands up to block any flying projectiles and found himself with a twin handful of soft curvy flesh.

Jounouchi blinked.

Mai blinked.

They both stared.

Which, of course, was the perfect moment for Seto and Yuugi to walk into the kitchen, Mokuba and Noa on their heels.

An uncomfortable silence followed.

”This… Really isn’t what it looks like.” Mai offered, her cheeks darkening. What it looked like was something straight out of one of Jounouchi’s old porno collection. Bustiere included.

”Jounouchi?” Seto said in a slow, low tone.

Jounouchi tilted his head to look at his lovers. “Breast. Boobs. Ever.” He said frankly.

Yuugi made a sporfling sound, then covered his mouth and turned away to laugh. Seto didn’t look nearly as amused as he blocked his younger brother’s view of the kitchen.

”I think he meant ‘Best’.” Mai said dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. Jounouchi shrugged, still not moving his hands. He’d always been a bit of a breast man, even if his lovers didn’t have them.

”Don’t worry.” Yuugi informed Seto seriously. “I think yours are better.” And thus proving that dating Anzu had been a -total- fluke because there was NO way that Kaiba Seto had a better chest than any hot chick. Legs, totally. Ass, maybe. Chest, no.

”Mokuba, eyes the other direction. Noa, same with you.” Seto ordered. “Yuugi, if you’d be so kind to loan Kujaku-san the use of your coat?”

”Right.” Yuugi said with muted mischief, peeling off his jacket and walking forward.

”Aww.” Mokuba sulked, his dark head turned the other direction. “I’m old enough to watch porn. Why do I have to turn my back?”

”Because there are some breasts that you’re still not old enough for.” Seto said gravely, not even bothering to attempt playing the gentleman card. Yuugi giggled, placing his jacket backwards over Mai’s shoulders to cover her front.

Jounouchi gave the soft globes that were resting perfectly in his hands a reluctant farewell pat before removing them. Mai gave him a scowl and suspicious glare. “Sorry. I know they belong to my sister and all, but they’re still damn nice.” Jounouchi said with a sheepish grin.

The glare turned mutinous as Mai stood up with a great deal of dignity. Yuugi and Seto grabbed his wrists, cutting any retort she had short. “Mokuba, Noa, if you would kindly arrange for a room for Kujaku to stay in for the night before you see yourselves bed.” Seto said seriously. “Katsuya, Yuugi and I will be indisposed. We have some… Obedience Training to attend to.”

Jounouchi –should- have been afraid. Really he should have been. Or possibly annoyed at the terminology used. But he couldn’t help the ‘I’m gonna get laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaid’ grin on his face a he was dragged out the kitchen door.

+++  
+++

”Okay.” Noa leaned back in his chair. “I kind of get the whole ‘Ninjas versus Pirates’ thing. And there’s a couple of good Pirate and Ninja guilds that started up to settle the debate. But I don’t get this one.”

”Which is?” Mokuba pushed his chair back, rolling across the room to peer over Noa’s shoulder. He stared at the screen in confusion for a moment before a confused noise escaped his lips.

”That’s what I said.” Noa grumped. “I still don’t understand the whole fascination with the undead.”

”A Zombie Guild?” Mokuba bit out, ignoring Noa’s comment. Sometimes it was possible to be a little too close to a subject. “What exactly do they do?”

”Mostly stagger.” Noa crossed his arms. “They figured out how to set their strength and stamina to ridiculously high at the price of the intelligence and dexterity being almost nil.”

”Set them off in one direction and watch everyone else scramble?” Mokuba guessed.

Noa nodded. “Although it gets amusing when two run into each other. They can’t figure out how to break apart, it’s like running into a wall.” He brought up an image of two zombies that had obviously been going in opposite directions. They were still trying to walk, but were locked in place. The unstoppable object meeting the unmovable force.

”You do know what’s next.” Mokuba grinned, glancing at Noa. Noa gave him a sceptical look, like he knew he should be afraid, but wasn’t quite sure of –what- yet. “Zombie Ninjas vs Zombie Pirates.”

”Ugh.” Noa pitched forward, resting his head on the desk. “Nooooo.” He groaned. “I swear, if that happens, I’m quitting.”

Mokuba laughed, knowing that Noa wasn’t serious. Noa turned his head, blue eyes glaring at Mokuba from under green fringe. Mokuba got his laughter under control. “Hear anything from Leonhart lately?” He asked instead. The European boy had disappeared off the radar after the last communications.

”Nothing.” Noa frowned, lifting his head up. “Not a single electronic blip.”

”… You didn’t hack into their systems, did you?” Mokuba concluded with some alarm. Sneaking into Schroider Corporation’s computers could be considered corporate espionage.

Noa looked guilty. “Just a bit. The terminals and stuff that Leonhart usually uses. He hasn’t accessed the system at all since that last communication.” Which was about a month prior. Mokuba reached out and put a hand on Noa’s shoulder, worried for his brother and his brother’s friend. He liked Leonhart okay, but Leonhart was really one of the first friends Noa had made on his own, and the only one who knew who and what he really was. Leonhart was special to them for that.

”He knows where we are.” Mokuba reminded him. “And he knows how to contact us. If he needs us, we’re here.”

”I know.” Noa nodded. “I just… I wish there was something I could do. If I could know what’s going on. I could probably get deeper into the system, check security logs and stuff, but…” It was dangerous, there was a greater chance that he’d be caught and then it wouldn’t just be Leonhart in trouble. Mokuba nodded, not knowing what to say to make things better.

”Hey, in the meantime, you can help me with some of the preparations for the Tournament.” Mokuba nudged him. “Japan National Championship. Winner goes to the Grand Prix.”

”Which we still have to finish organizing.” Noa sighed. “Vegas this year, right?”

”Yeah, to show off the merger with Industrial Illusions.” Mokuba nodded. “But the National Championship is being hosted in Kaiba Land.” He grinned. “Wanna make them duel on a moving roller coaster?”

Noa snorted. “And people think it’s Seto with the crazy ideas.”

+++  
+++

”You’ve got that look again.” Jounouchi commented, startling Yuugi. Yuugi startled, then flinched, glancing up at his large blond friend.

”What look?” He said, striving for calmness. They were just lounging around in his room, nothing unusual here.

Jounouchi poked him on the forehead, right between the eyes. “The look that says that you’re starting to feel trapped.”

”I’m not!” Yuugi protested, a little too quickly. “Everything’s great! Couldn’t be better!”

One of Jounouchi’s eyebrows disappeared under his hair. “Yuugi.”

Yuugi ducked his head, tucking himself deeper between Jounouchi’s arm and chest. “I don’t want to…but…” He closed his eyes, conflicted. Jounouchi made a thoughtful humming sound, but didn’t comment. “I… This thing with you and Seto… It’s so new and fragile. But at the same time, I want to –move-, get out of town. It’s stifling.”

”So go.” Jounouchi shrugged and Yuugi felt his chest thump painfully.

”… What?”

Jounouchi gave a small chuckle, tilting Yuugi’s head up so they could look at each other. There was no mocking in Jounouchi’s warm gaze, only concern. “It’s not a surprise. Mokuba’s noticed as well. We all know that you’re not meant to stay in Domino City.”

”But…” Yuugi wrapped his hand around Jounouchi’s long fingers. “You… Seto…” He loved spending time with them, be it in bed or out. He couldn’t have imagined being this happy before they’d actually gotten together, but as much as he wanted to stay with them, he needed to move too.

”We’re not here to hold you back.” Jounouchi smiled. “Yeah, we’re going to miss you like crazy when you’re gone, but we love your company when you’re here. And remember the deal.”

”I’m only allowed to cheat on you with Seto.” Yuugi dutifully repeated. “And you’re only allowed to cheat on him with me. And he’s not allowed to cheat on either of us.” He realised that he had possibly been out manoeuvred in advance. There was nothing in the deal about -staying in Domino-, only their choice of bed partners.

”Seto travels a lot too.” Jounouchi reminded him with a fond crooked smile. “And Mokuba and I don’t always go with him.” Their agreement allowed them to have their freedom, yet have something to bind them together too. And they were all honourable enough to stick to it.

And if Yuugi was out travelling and Seto was travelling in the same area, well… Then there was nothing to say that they couldn’t get together. “Oh.” Maybe even send Jounouchi a video.

”Also.” Jounouchi added with a conspiratorial wink. “A certain young miscreant is currently trying to tempt Otogi into taking over the R&D division of the Industrial Illusions branch of Kaiba Corporation. I have it on good record that Otogi’s going to be flying to Vegas within the month, and that he wouldn’t mind some company. Especially since Honda can’t go.”

Yuugi licked his lips. ”For how long?” He asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. America! He hadn’t been in America for years!

Jounouchi shrugged. “A few weeks. But there’s nothing that says that ya have to stay there, is there?”

He hadn’t gotten to see the Grand Canyon during their last trip. He’d seen desert, but not the Grand Canyon. That was somewhat near Vegas, right?

And he really didn’t want to be in town during the Championship. There were too many people who flocked to the shop, people who wanted to hunt him down to duel. And while he enjoyed duelling, the title snatchers got old. And he had enough funds to go where he wanted.

He realised that he was gripping Jounouchi hard enough to leave marks on his skin and quickly released him, climbing up to straddle Jounouchi’s legs. “You think?” He asked earnestly, staring at Jounouchi’s face. “It wouldn’t bother either of you?”

”Doesn’t bother me.” Jounouchi ran the back of his knuckles down the side of Yuugi’s face. “But then I’ve disappeared on you before. And I’m pretty sure that when you talk to Ol’ Blue Eyes, he’ll be happy to throw you on the plane himself. We just wanna make you happy.”

”Thank you.” Yuugi buried his hands in Jounouchi’s thick hair, pulling their faces together for a hard messy kiss. “I love you.”

”Love ya too, Yuugi.” Jounouchi gave him a brilliant grin, wrapping his arms around him. Yuugi gave him a grin before pulling him down for another kiss and they didn’t do much talking after that.

+++  
+++

"Yo, Kaiba!" Jounouchi burst through the doors to the eldest Kaiba's office. He was brought up short by the appearance of Yuugi, who was sitting on Kaiba's desk, his feet swinging off the edge as the two talked. ".... Oh."

Whoops. Bad timing on his part. Although he was glad to see that they were talking. Both of them seemed to be happy, if their relaxed posture was anything to go by.

"Quiet, Katsuya." Kaiba smirked evilly at them as Mokuba and Noa crashed into Jounouchi's back, and then peered around his body. "Mummy and Daddy are talking."

"...." Jounouchi stared at him. What?!

"Who is the Mom?" Yuugi questioned innocently, glancing at Kaiba. Jounouchi had images of both of them dressed like June Cleaver dancing through his head.

"Okay, you know what?" Jounouchi pointed a finger at the two in the office. "That's just WRONG. Come on, Mokuba. In all good conscience, I can't leave ya exposed to this sort of depravity."

"Eh? But... but... EEP!" Mokuba let out a very undignified squeak as Jounouchi picked up the youngest Kaiba and tossed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, before turning and walking back towards the elevator. Mokuba laughed, waving an imploring arm back towards his brother and Yuugi. "Okachan! Help!"

Yuugi sighed and slipped off the desk. "I guess that's me this time. Although you're usually the one wearing the skirts."

"They're not skirts, they're coats." Kaiba informed Yuugi curtly, waving him off with a small smile as he turned his attention towards the computer in the middle of the desk. Their conversation apparently at an end.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I HEARD~!" Jounouchi's shouted from the lobby. Mokuba made a snickering sound in return.

Noa sighed as he followed them out, passing Ryuu-san, who was watching the goings on with a thinly veiled amused air. "And to think," The green-haired Kaiba complained. "That I once upon a time, I wanted a larger family...."

+++  
+++

"INCOMING!" Mokuba shouted as he did a cannonball into the pool, his black hair streaming out behind him. Yuugi laughed as he stepped back to avoid the splash -and then promptly, annoyingly, got hit by a second wave of water that was Jounouchi hitting the water wearing nothing but a grin and a pair of very snug small black speedos.

On second thought, the water wasn't -quite- that annoying, not when it distracted him from his body's more automatic impulses upon seeing that much naked Jounouchi flesh. Guh. He was not going to jump Jounouchi in the pool. He was not going to jump Jounouchi in the pool. At least not while Mokuba was around.

He looked over and realised that Noa was floating in mid-air, watching Mokuba and Jounouchi gleefully attempt to drown each other in the water. "You're not going in?" Noa inquired.

"Um. Not... just yet." Yuugi delayed, fiddling with the zipper of the hoodie he was currently wearing over his baggy board shorts.

Seto walked out of the changing rooms, wearing a pair of dark blue snug short... well, shorts. Yuugi swallowed. Seto had legs that didn't seem to end. "'Niisama!" Mokuba waved, attracting his brother's attention as he dunked his sputtering bodyguard under water. "Save me!"

"You look like you're doing fine on your own." Seto smirked back at his brother, and then did a racing dive into the water, causing barely a ripple. Yuugi swallowed again. He'd almost forgotten just how well Seto could -move-. Even without the coattails of doom flaring out behind him, Seto still moved like he had them, like an absentmindedly forgotten pair of wings.

"You're going to attract flies." Noa commented, crossing his arms across his chest with a smirk as he watched the people in the pool.

"Nugh?"

Seto rose out of the water, smoothly swimming towards his brother. Jounouchi threw Mokuba off his back, jumping up into the air to attempt to drown the youngest Kaiba. Where as Seto was built all on long smooth clean lines, Jounouchi was all hard curves of packed muscle. The blond didn't seem to have any fat on him, not that he'd ever seemed to have any on him, not even when they were younger. He burned it off too fast.

"You're drooling." And this time Noa didn't even bother to hide his amusement. Yuugi closed his mouth and wiped at his lips and discovered much to his embarrassment that Noa was correct.

He cleared his throat, sticking his hands in the hoodie's pockets. "So. Are you going to go swimming?"

"I'm... not entirely comfortable in water." Noa grimaced, materialising one leg and touching a puddle next to the pool with one bare toe. The water looked as if it had six different feet dipping itself into it, a kaleidoscope of toes. "The projectors have gotten to the point where I can do it, but the feedback... is annoying."

Yuugi figured it must feel like a limb that had gone to sleep and was just getting the blood back, all pins and needles--only worse. "I can imagine."

Noa shrugged, his eyes following Mokuba as the youngest Kaiba launched himself off of Jounouchi, attempting to drown his brother. While Mokuba was almost his brother's height, he was still at the skinny adolescent stage, limbs still too long and lacking the mass to pull his brother down. "It's not so bad, I can still watch."

"Hmm." Yuugi agreed. Ooooh, could they watch. Mmmmm... Wet almost-naked flesh.

Noa tilted his head to his side. "You're not going in now?" He questioned, glancing at Yuugi before returning his gaze towards Mokuba.

Yuugi felt his cheeks turn slightly red in a way that had nothing to do with watching his two nearly naked lovers wrestle with each other and more to do with embarrassment. "I'd rather watch."

This time Noa actually looked at him, although Yuugi wished he wouldn't. "You're not shy, are you?"

Yuugi ducked his head, fiddling with the zipper on the hoodie again. "I'm not usually." Anymore, that was. He could face down Pharaohs and Gods without batting an eye. He walked without fear where angels danced and demons tread. But when standing next to Seto and Jounouchi, especially when wearing as little as they all were, he was just a -bit- body conscious.

He was short and always going to be short. It ran in his family, like the funny looking big hair. And like Jounouchi, he always seemed to burn all his energy off, leaving him perpetually skinny. Compared to Seto's tall stature, with his wide shoulders and lean hips, or Jounouchi's graceful muscled frame, he always felt a little childish. Too skinny, too tiny, too funny looking.

"They don't love you for your looks." Noa commented, his gaze drifting back towards Mokuba. "They don't love you despite your looks either."

"I know." Yuugi muttered. But logic had very little to do with how he felt. He watched Noa watching Mokuba for a moment, a bit of knowledge falling into place. "You like Mokuba-kun."

A bit more than 'liked', unless Yuugi was sorely mistaken. Seto had worn a similar look while watching Jounouchi before they started dating; the unrequited gaze of a man who knows that something is so close, yet completely untouchable. Yuugi was pretty sure that he'd had a similar expression watching Jounouchi as well.

Noa didn't say anything, just watching Mokuba team up with his brother against Jounouchi in a splash war. "Don't tell Seto." He finally spoke.

"I won't." Yuugi promised. Seto was still uncomfortable about Noa's influence on his brother, although he'd stopped protesting the green-haired Kaiba's presence. "Are you going to tell Mokuba?" Part of him wondered if it was because he was in a new stable relationship, he wanted everyone else around him to be happy. Then he dismissed the idea as silly, he always wanted everyone around him to be happy regardless if he was in a relationship at the moment or not.

"No." Noa shrugged.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" Mokuba probably would be -very- interested in that bit of information. Both the 'liking' and 'keeping it a secret' parts of it.

"Mokuba's been holding himself back, because he's been worried about Seto." Noa motioned to where Jounouchi had gotten a hold of Mokuba and was tossing him into the deep end of the pool. "But now that Seto's with both of you, Mokuba's not worrying about him anymore. Mokuba's -seventeen-. He's finally starting to notice the other gender."

"But not the same." Yuugi concluded sympathetically.

"Oh, he's definitely Seto's brother." Noa smirked. "He's just more subtle about noticing the guys."

Yuugi felt his eyebrows go up. Oh-kay then. Interesting.

The green-haired teen sighed. "The thing is, out of all of us, Mokuba is the one that has the greatest chance of being normal. Or as normal as any of us here can get. And I'm not going to mess that up for him." Noa had his jaw set firmly as he said that. Yuugi wondered sometimes if Mokuba knew how much his brothers cared for him.

"What I am going to do-" Noa said resolutely. "-is watch over Mokuba when he flirts and eventually starts dating. And when the novelty wears off, I'm still going to be here."

"To be not the first, but the last." Yuugi mused.

Noa nodded. "Exactly." He certainly wasn't going anywhere.

Yuugi smiled, patting Noa's shoulder. "That's a very mature way to look at it."

"Not really." Noa made a morose, gloomy face. "I devoted an entire sub-processor to it for 47.328 days. It's the most logical plan of action, but that doesn't mean I'm -happy- about it."

Noa had a point. It wasn't easy to step back for someone else's happiness. Yuugi had been very lucky in the way things had turned out between him Jounouchi and Seto, in that he hadn't had to. "Still, you're a good person, Noa-kun."

"Thank you." Noa smiled sweetly at Yuugi, and then pushed him into the pool.

+++  
+++

 _'What ever you do, do not go into the room.'_ Yuugi had said. _'We're -busy-.'_

The words rolled through Seto's head like a mantra. Followed by Katsuya's easy wave as he and Yuugi had walked off, the blond commenting that maybe they should stick a sign on the door, 'No Kaiba Allowed'.

He was trying to work, there was a slight glitch in the code that needed to be done by tomorrow and he had spent half the day trying to find it and not succeeding. At least, not succeeding as of yet. A Kaiba did not -fail-.

 _'Do not go into the room.'_ It was annoying him, a little niggling itch in the back of his head, distracting him from the purity of the codes.

 _'Do not go-'_ Oh, fuck it. NO ONE, not even his own lovers, told him what to do.

That thought in mind, an extremely annoyed and irritated Kaiba Seto stalked down the corridors of his house, towards the one door he was told not to open. And opened it.

Katsuya and Yuugi lay sprawled out on the bed, Katsuya's larger bulk pinning Yuugi to the mattress as the two of them kissed. Their clothing wasn't half off yet, but it didn't appear to be for lack of effort. They broke off the kiss as they looked at him, Katsuya hitting a button on a stopwatch.

"Damn. Thought it would take you a little while longer." Katsuya said ruefully as he rolled off of Yuugi, waving the time. Yuugi had a smug predatory grin on his face. Although he may have disliked the title 'King of Games', it didn't make the title any less true. "Guess I owe you a blowjo-ooOOH!"

Yuugi pounced the larger blond, pressing him against the bed as he did something lascivious with his tongue and Katsuya's navel that made the bodyguard writhe and howl. Sensitive stomach, check.

The small duellist glanced up as Katsuya panted for breath, a sly smirk on his face, and Seto could easily read what Yuugi was thinking.

Yes, they knew they tricked him. Yes, they'd do it again in a heartbeat if they thought he needed a break. Yes, they knew that he'd follow them. Now could he please stop being irritated and join them in the worthy cause of getting so messy they required shower sex to get clean-?

Seto thought it over. On one hand, they had knowingly manipulated him and he'd probably forever now equivocate 'Do not go into this room' with 'Yuugi and Katsuya waiting for him for lots of hot messy sex', which meant they now had a distraction they could use on him.

On the other hand, Sex. And a break would probably do him good, he could return to the code with a fresh set of eyes. And Yuugi was leaving for the States in a few days, there were limited chances for them to get together before he left. It would be negligent of him to pass up this opportunity.

"I will get you for this." He declared, slipping off his coat as he stalked towards them.

He got smug twin smiles in return. "Lookin' forward ta it." Katsuya assured him before Seto pounced.

+++  
+++

”A limo?” Yuugi looked at the black vehicle waiting for him at the kerb with some amusement. “Really, Jounouchi…”

”Hey, it’s available.” Jounouchi shrugged back unrepentantly. “And it’s not like you haven’t ridden in one before.”

”Yes, but…” It was usually during very rare and odd situations, usually involving Seto and Jounouchi that he rode in one of the Kaiba Corporation limousines. The last time being when the three of them had gotten together.

”Saves you train fare to the Airport.” Jounouchi winked at him. “Besides, Otogi’s getting there the same way. All part of the package. -- And we like to know that you’re gonna at least get there and back safely.” He added the last part quietly. Yuugi’s cheeks heated up as he realised that it was his lovers’ way of taking care of Yuugi.

Not like the pass in his back pocket wasn’t enough. Yuugi had been given a one year unlimited pass for anywhere that KC Airlines flew. He was flying standby, but it was better than having to worry about if he had enough funds for airfare. ‘For his birthday’, as Seto had said with some amusement.

Which he probably did, but he also knew it was Seto’s way of watching over him as well. Giving Yuugi the freedom to travel, to go where he wanted.

It was probably a good thing, Yuugi reflected as he looked up at the reflection of the clouds on the Kaiba Corporation building. As much as he loved Jounouchi and Seto, and they loved him, he and Seto were both too much the alpha not to butt heads with each other.

”Oh.” Jounouchi dug into a pants pocket. “Before you go, this is for you.”

”Jounouchi!” Yuugi scolded. “You already gave me a birthday present!” He fought a blush as he remembered how Seto and Jounouchi had presented his birthday cake and what they had done with that. Jounouchi certainly had an interesting sense of humour when it came to ribbons, bows and the placement thereof.

”Yeah, but this is different.” Jounouchi pulled out a small black velvet box and handed it to Yuugi, a serious look on his face.

Yuugi took it and opened it, finding a black ring inside. “Jounouchi?” He questioned softly, pulling the ring out of the small box. Holding it up to the light he could see that it wasn’t solid black, there was a glint of red in the middle.

The centre of the band was cut out in the shape of a Red Eyes Black Dragon, and filled in with something the same shade as freshly cut blood.

”You like?” Jounouchi asked, almost shyly. ”It’s titanium, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking. The centre is red enamel. Kinda blends in, so it’s a stealth dragon.”

”It’s perfect.” Yuugi grinned up at him. Strong and unexpected, just like Jounouchi. Jounouchi grinned back, his cheeks turning a faint pink as he took the ring from Yuugi’s hand and slipped it on to the ring finger of Yuugi’s right hand, next to the purple and gold ankh ring.

”I figured since you and Kaiba already marked me, it was only fair to return the favour.” Jounouchi said, fiddling with the leather cuffs on his wrists that Yuugi had given him ages ago, to match the collar around his neck with the ‘KC’ logo hanging from it. “And this way there’s less of a chance of you forgettin’ me while you’re wanderin’.”

”Like I would ever forget you.” Yuugi said, leaning forward and fiercely wrapping his arms around Jounouchi, resting his head against his friend’s solid chest. Jounouchi hugged him back, just as tight. “Thank you.”

”Yer welcome.” Jounouchi mumbled, slightly awkward. They held each other tight, longer than was socially acceptable before Jounouchi cleared his throat. “You’d better go. Don’t wanna miss yer flight.”

”I won’t.” Yuugi promised. He released Jounouchi, wishing they weren’t in public so he could sneak a kiss. “I’ll see you later, Jounouchi.”

”Safe travels, Yuugi.” Jounouchi said, ruffling Yuugi’s hair as he stepped back. Yuugi nodded, with an odd feeling that they had no more words left to say. Jounouchi would be here when he got back.

He gave Jounouchi one last soft smile before picking up his duffle and heading down the steps to the black limousine waiting for him, aware of Jounouchi’s gaze on him the entire way down. The limo driver bowed as he approached, holding the door open for him.

”YUUGI.” Seto’s voice echoed, making Yuugi turn around. He turned around, finding Seto standing next to Jounouchi. Seto raised a hand, then something sparkling and silver flew through the air. Yuugi lifted a hand, metal biting into his palm as he caught it.

He looked down. It was a series of small interlocking rings that jangled musically as they moved in his hand.

”I expect that completed before you return.” Seto’s said, his tone a command. Yuugi grinned back, giving him a mock salute before stepping in the car. The driver shut the door behind him, then moved swiftly to the front.

Yuugi settled himself in the seat, looking out the window at where Seto and Jounouchi were standing, watching the limousine. Dark hair and pale hair, they were a study in contrasts. Seto in his dark clothing and white jacket, and Jounouchi in his white shirt, torn pale jeans and black jacket.

The limousine pulled away, and they watched each other until they could no longer be seen. Only then did Yuugi turn his attention to what Seto had thrown him.

It was a puzzle ring. 18 thin interlocking silver bands so pale they were almost white, three of the bands with tiny dark blue stones embedded in them. He smiled to himself, fingers already working on putting it together.

He had it done by the time the limousine pulled up in front of the Domino International Airport. It was vaguely Celtic looking, the way the metal curved together. The curve of the pattern was also reminiscent of the curve of the Blue Eyes White Dragon’s head, the blue jewels glinting like the eyes of the dragons.

It fit perfectly on the ring finger of his left hand.

Yuugi looked at the rings on his fingers and couldn’t help the smile that refused to fade, even after he joined up with Otogi and the light teasing of the Game Creator. Red Eyes Black Dragon on his right, Blue Eyes White Dragon on his left.

Jounouchi had his leather cuffs and collar. Seto had a photo of them tucked into the locket he always wore around his neck, opposite the picture of his brother.

And now Yuugi wore their rings.

His lovers were possessive bastards. Which was fine with Yuugi, because he was a bit of one as well.

+++


End file.
